A Mother's Love
by ahopelesship
Summary: What happens when Stef and Lena take in a troubled foster kid and her brother? It was only supposed to be a temporary fix, so the Foster family thought. What happens when a temporary fix becomes more of a permanent one? And what will it take for one of their kids to realize that they're pushing themselves too hard? AU. (Heavy OC story line.)
1. Prologue

**A Mother's Love.**

**Author's Note:** Hey there! This is my first attempt at any kind of FanFiction.

**Back Story:** 16-year-old, Callie Jacob is a foster kid who is ironically placed in the Foster's home. Stef and Lena already have four kids: 16-year-old, Brandon Foster, Stef's biological son from her first marriage, 21-year-old Greyson Adams, Lena's biological son from a one night stand before coming out, and two 15-year-old twins, who were adopted a little under 10 years ago by Stef and Lena. The couple ends up also providing a home for Callie's 12-year-old brother, Jude. It was only supposed to be a temporary fix, so the Foster family thought. What happens when a temporary fix becomes more of a permanent one?

**Rated M: **For language and themes.

**Disclaimer:** Yes, I have added a OC to the Foster family, so other than that, I don't own The Fosters or anything other than what is obvious that I make up. The OC that I have placed in the Foster family will be heavily in the story lines, this is your warning.

* * *

**Prologue**

21-year-old, Greyson Adams walked into his mother's home after a long day at work. He just graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in communication and political science. He was working as the youngest communications director for a United States Senator based out of San Diego. His schedule went anywhere from 6:00am to 7:00pm daily. He was at the beck and call of his boss even on weekends and holidays, also taking online classes working towards his master's degree, so despite his mother's Lena's dismay, he's always busy.

"Hello? I'm home!" He called out into the house. He heard everyone in the kitchen. "Where is everybody?"

"In the kitchen, honey." He heard Lena call back.

"Just in time, workaholic," he heard Stef say. "We're just about to start dinner. You wanna beer?" She asked as he walked into the kitchen loosening his tie.

"Yes, please." He said kissing his mother's cheek hello. He then looked around seeing Jesus, Marianna, and Brandon smiling at him. They won't admit it, but he was like their hero. He had been through his fair share of challenges as a kid, mainly because of his rebellious behavior, but he had this tough exterior front in the public eye, but at home he was the hugest softy that anyone had ever met. He was their protector. Then he made eye contact with someone who he hadn't seen before. "Who are you?" He asked as he took a sip of the beer Stef just handed him.

"Oh, Greyson, honey." Lena said. "This is Callie, she's going to be staying with us for a few weeks."

"Callie?" He repeated as a question and stuck his hand out to officially meet her. She nodded her head. "Greyson." She finally shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Greyson." She said softly.

"Alright, now that we're done with introductions," Stef said. "Let's eat. Greyson? Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I always come home for Mama's home cooked meal. You know that." He said, eyeing his mother, still not too sure why there's a beat up looking girl living with them, even if it was temporarily. He was sure that their family was complete or at least they're done fostering children until he and/or Brandon moved out. "It's free." He continued his comment with a joking sense. "Why do you think I still live at home? Free room, free food, and someone else doing my laundry for me." He continued to joke.

"Very funny." Lena said gently hitting his arm. "I was pretty convinced you still lived at home because you loved us."

"It's true, plus, it's nice to come home to people I actually love. That's why I only lived on campus during freshman year at San Diego State. I had a creepy ass roommate that first year. I was convinced that he was there because his parents made him come. He was always high or drunk, staying out until 2:00am. It was bad."

"Your guys' RA let him get away with that?" Stef asked.

"Not always, but sometimes when he was just at his witts end, yeah." He said taking a bite out of his dinner. Looking over at Callie who didn't have much on her plate and was playing around with the food on her plate in deep thought. "Anyway, how was your guys' day?" He addressed the whole family.

"Good." They all, except Callie, said at once. Greyson then gestured for someone to take over leading the conversation. "How was your day, honey?" Lena asked him.

"Long. We're in the beginning stages of election season. So nothing like a 13 hour day to start out the work week." He said somewhat sarcastically.

"Yeah, I head you up at like 4:30 this morning," Marianna said. "What time did you have to be at work?"

"6:15 this morning." He said taking a sip of his beer.

"Eeww." He heard all the kids, except Callie groan. "How can you do that? Didn't all your classes started at noon in college?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah, but it's easy, when you love you job, getting up early isn't a hassle anymore. I love working for Senator Taylor. She has this tenacity about politics and everything in about it. So do I and maybe I didn't realize that until college, but it's not something I'd give up for the world. Even if that means 3:45am runs, 4:30am showers, 5:15am breakfasts alone, and 6:15am call times to work. I love it." He said with a smile on her face.

"Wait," Lena said. "You eat breakfast?" She didn't even know if her son ate a balanced three meals a day like you're supposed to with his insane work schedule. Greyson nodded his head. "And you eat it alone?" He nodded his head again. "Since when?"

"Since that lecture in my nutrition class sophomore year of college about how breakfast is the most important meal of the day." He said. "I don't expect you to get up and sit with me while I read the morning paper, drink my morning cup of coffee, and eat Frosted Flakes, Ma. That's too much for me to ask anyway."

"No, it's not. I like you having company, even if it's in the early hours of the morning." Lena said.

"Stef joins me on most mornings." Greyson said. Lena looked up at her partner, when she brought the police officer into their lives, it was a hard adjustment for the now communications director. Still 12 years in, they had their moments of pure disagreements that Lena would have to play peacemaker with, but they had a better tolerance now.

"You do?" Lena asked over at her wife lovingly. Stef nodded. "Is that where you've been going early in the morning lately?" She nodded again.

"Remember a few months ago where I had to go into the officer earlier?" Lena nodded, it was his first day of his second week of working for the Senator and even if he doesn't admit it, he looked lonely. So ever since I've gotten up earlier so he wouldn't be lonely."

"Which I never asked her to do." Greyson added. "She does it because she wants to. Besides, how else are we going to have a legitimate debate about healthcare and education if you're always playing the peacemaker between us?"

"Well, clearly it hasn't gotten heated because none of us have heard the boring debate." Jesus cut in. Lena softly hit his arm. "What? He's the one who decided to be a double major and for _one_ of his majors to be political science. He's a nerd."

"You're a nerd." Greyson said picking up a green bean and throwing it at his younger brother, who then just picked up the green bean and threw it back.

"Hey," Stef said. "You know the rules. No name calling or throwing food at the dinner table."

Greyson looked over at Callie who had looked up from her food and was in awe of the typical family bickering.

"So what you're saying is that we can call each other names and throw food at each other at other places?" Jesus asked seriously.

"No," Stef and Lena said at the same time. "Just eat your food, Jesus." Stef said to her youngest son. When an awkward silence filled the room, Callie just looked around. She hadn't said much of anything since Lena picked her up at juvie earlier that day because she was trying to process everything that's going on, trying to figure out a way to save her brother and still live here. Trying to tell herself that as nice as this family is, it's only a temporary fix.

"So, Callie," Greyson said getting the girl's attention. "How was your day?" He said trying to not sound creepy, but genuine all at once.

"I've had better." She mumbled. Greyson looked at her hoping that she'd say more, but it was clearly evident that those three words were all he was going to hear from the girl.

"Well, you're in a good place after having a bad day." He said trying to make the newcomer to feel welcome. He gave her a soft, reassuring smile.

"Thanks," she mumbled before digging into the little food she had on her plate. Everyone else looked at him in awe. He normally has this exterior front with strangers. And when Lena placed her hand on his forearm from across the table and mouthed thank you, all he did was shrug. If this was going to be the girl home temporarily, he was going to make sure she felt welcomed.

* * *

Stef and Lena were cuddled in bed when they heard a knock at their bedroom door. The kids had gone to bed an hour ago, so they were wondering what was going on.

"Come in." Stef called holding Lena close. When the door opened, they saw Greyson standing there still in dress slacks and a halfway buttoned up shirt.

"Hey honey." Lena said. "What's up?" She asked while he was shutting the door.

"Any reason why we have a kid that looks like she got into a serious bar fight temporarily living with us?" He asked. "I thought you weren't fostering again until I moved out?" Lena took a deep breath.

"Bill wanted us to take her in for a few weeks. She just got out of juvie."

"Juvie?!" Greyson's eyes went wide and he stood up straighter in full protector mode. "And you're letting her live here?"

Lena got up and walked to her son, "Honey, I need you to take a deep breath." She placed both of her hands on his broad shoulders. "Step out of protector mode." She began rubbing his shoulders. "God, you're worse than Stef. How many protectors do we need in this house?"

"Well, she has the gun." Greyson pointed out. "I just am instinctively protective. Brandon told me what she said about the twins not being your real children."

"Sweetheart, everything is fine. She's not going to hurt anybody in this house. She isn't violent." Lena tried to reason with her son.

"We can't save them all Mom. And we sure as hell aren't the modern day Brady Bunch." He said with Stef chuckling behind them. "What?" He asked Stef.

"I said something very similar a couple hours ago." Stef said with an amused look on her face. "We're more similar than your might think, Grey."

"And yet the two of you can't agree on healthcare or education." Lena said rolling her eyes while the two of them laughed.

"Alright, I've got an early morning tomorrow and still a half a paper to write. So I'm headed to my room. Just wanted to check in." He said kissing his mother's cheek.

"Okay, goodnight son." Lena said.

"Night Ma. Night Stef."

"Night kiddo."

When he left the room, Lena turned off the light and crawled back into Stef's arms, "I love you." Stef said kissing her forehead.

"I love you too, Mama Tiger." They lied there cuddling in each other's arms, falling asleep for an eventful day ahead.

* * *

The next morning, when Stef got up to have coffee and breakfast with Greyson, she noticed that Callie was lying on the couch with the blanket on the floor from when she had kicked it off of her some time last night. Stef went to recover her now foster daughter before making her way into the kitchen. She saw her stepson sitting there in a suit drinking coffee looking on his iPad what she assumed was his schedule for the day.

"Busy day?" She asked him. He slowly looked up from the iPad.

"Unfortunately." He said rubbing his brow. "I don't think I'll be able to make it to Brandon's piano finals thing tonight. We're about to announce something big to not only the beautiful state of California, but to the nation as well tomorrow and we still have a lot of prep work still needing to be done."

"Oh? Care to share?" Stef asked playfully. "And I'm sure Brandon will understand."

"Can't share yet. You'll just have to wait like everybody else." He said with a smile. "You have to work today?"

"Yeah." She said. "You wanna grab lunch with me and your mom?"

"I wish I could, but this might be the only peaceful meal I have today."

"You look like you've lost some weight." She randomly mentioned looking at how his suit is a little baggy for him.

"Just a couple pounds from all the stress." He said. "No big deal." Stef just stared at him, he's been working like crazy lately. But, like he said, it could be the stress.

"Well, your mom and I might crash your work with lunch then. They can't make you work through lunch. Besides when do the three of us actually get to hang out like we used to before the twins and when Brandon was at Mike's. I miss those times."

"Okay, I'll let the receptionist know that you guys are coming." He said drinking his coffee. Standing up having finished his cereal and pouring more coffee into his San Diego State University travel cup. "I gotta go. Long day ahead." He took a deep breath. He was prone to panic attacks real easy. So he was trying to take care of his during a crazy time. He gave Stef a fist bump and headed out the door. Stef took a deep breath, she had long since been anything religious, but she quietly prayed that her stepson would be okay.

* * *

Callie was having a hard first day of school, it was already tough being the new kid, but the vice principal's temporary foster kid, didn't make things any easier. She kept thinking about her brother and the situation he was in with her old foster father. She never understood why the universe hated her so much. She was at lunch when she was contemplating her move. She had a solid plan to leave right after school to go to get him. As Stef and Greyson were the protectors of the Foster family, she was the protector of her little brother. When the final bell of the day rang, she beelined it to the nearest bus stop. Brandon seeing this followed her.

"Callie," he said catching up to her. "Callie!" He said getting her attention.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"Where are you going? Home is in the other direction."

"None of your business." She snapped again. Brandon ran in front of her of and stopped her. "Go the hell away!" She yelled.

"Where are you going?" He repeated his question, trying to make eye contact with her. Callie took a deep breath.

"To save my little brother in San Ysidro." She said looking at him.

"Is he in any kind of trouble because my mom is a cop-"

"No!" She all but yelled. "No cops. Just let me go." She said getting away from Brandon and as she walked off, Brandon looked at her.

"Callie, wait." He said catching up to her. "I'm not going to let you go alone."

Deep down Callie knew that this family was starting to care about her, she kept telling herself not to get attached, but she had a feeling that she might have much of a choice.

* * *

A few hours later, Lena was lost in thought when she heard her wife come in. They had lunch with Greyson today and he just seemed off. He reassured them that it was just a stressful time and he knew that there would be these times when he was offered and took the job, but the mother side of her couldn't help, but worry about her baby boy.

"Hello?" She heard her wife call through the house. "Where is everybody?" She heard her wife say to herself as she walked into the kitchen.

"Hey honey." Lena said greeting her wife with a hello kiss.

"Hey, where is everybody?" Stef asked.

"Upstairs, I believe." Lena said, sounding distant.

"You alright?" Stef asked her wife placing her hand on the vice principal's waist pulling her closer.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She dismissed it. Stef looked at her to make sure that everything was okay. "Okay, did Greyson seem off today when we had lunch today?"

"He did, but he reassured us that it was stress." Stef said kissing her wife's forehead.

"Yeah, like he reassured us that he wasn't having any panic attacks his freshman year of college only to find out by him having a severe one that ended him up in the hospital for a weekend? I'm not reassured."

"You worry about him too much, love." Stef said, caressing her partner's cheek.

"I know, I just don't know where I'd be without him." She whispered as Stef pulled her into a tight hug.

"I love you." Stef tried to make her wife feel better.

"I love you too." She said slowly kissing her wife. "Now, go change. We have piano finals to go to."

"Okay, I'll get Brandon too." Stef whispered into another kiss. She walked upstairs to change out of her uniform and get her son. She came down five minutes later, with a confused look on her face.

"What's wrong honey?" Lena asked.

"Did Brandon come home from school today?" She asked.

"I thought I saw him when I got home." Lena said. "Did you check Greyson's room, I know he's been hiding down there a lot recently since Greyson lets him." The couple walked towards the basement where Greyson's room was. When they got there they were greeted to an messy room with nobody in it.

"The stress really is getting to him." Stef commented.

"Why do you say that?" Lena asked.

"I'm pretty sure that's two weeks worth of laundry sitting in the middle of the floor." The police officer said, pointing at a mound of clothing in the middle of the floor.

"Remind me to come pick up those dirty clothes." Lena said. "He looks like he's going to need some support in the next few months."

"Yeah, who knew that Senator Taylor was announcing her campaign for presidency tomorrow." Stef said referring to how lunch with Greyson in his office today meant they found out why he was so stressed out.

"I just hope he can control his anxiety. He looked like he was coming back from a panic attack when we got there."

"He'll be fine, now come on. Let's go find Brandon." Stef said as the doorbell rang. She went to answer it and saw her ex husband, Mike at the door. "Hey, come in. Have you seen Brandon?"

"No, not today. Why?" Mike asked.

"He's seemed to be missing in action."

"Where could he be?" Mike asked.

"I don't know, let me check, I have this app on my phone that tells me where the kids' phones are because Jesus kept misplacing his."

"Talya says she hasn't seen him since after seventh period and he was with Callie." Lena said, just getting off the phone. "Maybe we're overreacting. Maybe he's just going to meet us there."

"Or maybe we're under reacting, what the hell are they doing in San Ysidro?"

All three parents stood there looking at each other in confusion before leaving the house in a hurry.

* * *

**End Of The Chapter:** Chapter one is next, it's just a continuation of this prologue.


	2. A Family Made Up Of Pure Love

**Author's Note:** So it continues...

* * *

**Chapter One: A Family Made Up Of Pure Love.**

_"Talya says she hasn't seen him since after seventh period and he was with Callie." Lena said, just getting off the phone. "Maybe we're overreacting. Maybe he's just going to meet us there."_

_"Or maybe we're under reacting, what the hell are they doing in San Ysidro?"_

_All three parents stood there looking at each other in confusion before leaving the house in a hurry._

"This is why you shouldn't take strays in." Mike said getting in the back seat of Stef's car.

"Really, Mike?" Lena snapped getting in the front seat. "You think now is the time to nag on us about being foster parents?"

"I'm just saying, that kid doesn't sound like any good."

"Stop, Mike. Just stop." Stef said. She saw her partner put her head in her hands and at a red light, Stef put her hand on Lena's back and leaned over and said, "I love you." Before kissing her ear.

Lena looked up at the police officer as the light turned green, as the vice principal sat back in her seat, she grabbed Stef's hand that was offered to her.

"I'm just saying," Mike said to make his point. "He wouldn't have run off like that if you weren't running your house like the modern day Brady Bunch." Stef actually had to chuckle, this was the third person to say that with Lena in presence. "What's so funny?"

"She and Greyson called our family the Brady Bunch last night after meeting Callie too." Lena said.

"Well, it's true." Mike defended. "Don't tell me that it's not."

"We don't have a cleaning lady," Stef quipped.

"But you have all those kids." Mike argued.

"Mike just shut up." Stef said, rubbing her thumb over Lena's knuckles to calm her down. She watched as the love of her life relaxed in the passenger seat. It was quiet for the rest of the way, as Stef drove and calmed Lena down and as Mike sat in the back seat staring at the couple's handhold.

* * *

Brandon knocked on the door of Callie's old foster home to fake ask for direction to the nearest metro. The foster father opened the door after chastising his foster son for not doing so.

"How can I help you?" The foster father was all, but rude to Brandon.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but I was wondering if I can get directions to the nearest metro. I sort of got lost." Brandon said, in his surprise convincingly.

"The nearest metro is a few miles from here," the guy said. Their plan was working. All Callie had to do was get her brother Jude out of there. And she was successful, until she entered the house and her old foster father turned around from giving Brandon directions and saw her. "Hey!" He yelled to her. "What are you doing here?" Things were about to get heated. "Get the hell out of my house!"

"Hey sir, you don't need to yell-" Brandon tried to intervene. And he felt great until the guy pulled out a gun.

"You wanna try that again?" The guy said pointing the gun at Brandon. Brandon put his hands up and just when he thought things were going to get worse, he'd never had been so happy to hear his mother's police voice with her gun up in his entire life.

"Freeze! Put the gun down! Put the gun down now!" When the man put the gun down. Just as he did, the rest of the police squad that actually was on duty came into the house. The squad pinned the man down and handcuffed him. Callie at this point was holding her little brother. They walked out of the house a few minutes later and as the kids slipped into the car, Stef meets Lena at the back of the car.

"What the hell happened in there?" Lena asked her wife.

"I'm not exactly sure." Stef said. "Mike is going to go back with the on duty squad. Lena, we can't let those kids go back into the system just yet."

"Honey, we don't have the room." Lena tried to justify.

"Then we'll make room." Stef said going into hug Lena. When the couple slipped in the car, they made eye contact one more time. Lena realized that Stef had a change of heart and that her Brady Bunch comment was now invalid. Her phone buzzed alerting her that she had a text message from her son, Greyson.

_**Greyson:** Hey, Jesus texted me and told me that Brandon and Callie were in some kind of trouble. Is everything okay? Do I need to leave work right now?_

Lena smiled because her son loved and cared about this family just as much as she and Stef did.

_**To Greyson:** No, stay at work as long as you need to. We know that tomorrow is a big day for you. Everything is fine. Take a deep breath. I love you._

"Who was that?" Stef quietly asked her wife when she noticed she was smiling.

"Greyson." She said simply. "I guess Jesus texted him to let him know what was going on. We're going to have to tell him about Jude."

"Are you up for an early morning breakfast in the morning?" Stef asked. "I promise we won't debate about politics." She said with a small smile.

"I don't want to intrude on your guys' quality time together." Lena said, feeling her phone vibrate again.

"I think he'd be fine with just one intruder. Especially if it's his hero." Stef said.

"What do you mean?" She asked reading her son's text message.

_**Greyson: **Okay, love you too. I should be home in about an hour._

"He looks up to you more than you think he does, love." Lena looked over at Stef who was focused on her driving and placed her hand on the police officer's thigh.

"I love you, honey." Lena whispered.

"I love you too, sweetie." Stef whispered back. The continued driving in silence. When they pulled up to the house, everybody piled out and Greyson pulled up. Lena walked over to her son and hugged him tight.

"Hi," he breathed. "Are you okay?" He left his mother's embrace to lift up her chin.

"I just watched Stef in a house with a gun lifted up." She said softly.

"What happened, Ma?" He said trying to make eye contact with his somewhat distraught mother.

"Callie went to go save her brother, Jude and Brandon saw her leaving and went with her. Things got heated and the guy was going to shoot Brandon and then Callie."

"Is everyone okay?" He asked stepping into his protector mode.

"Yeah, luckily Stef got in on time with the on duty patrol squad. The guy is in custody." Lena whispered.

"And where is the kid that was there?" Greyson asked, having a feeling that he knew the answer to that.

"In the house with everybody else." She saw her son take a deep breath. She knew he had a lot on his plate right now. "Look, I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but Stef doesn't think they should go right back into the system."

"We're a _fucking_ modern day version of the Brady Bunch without a maid. The house barely fit the six of us. We did just fine and now you're adding two more kids into the mix, Ma, come on."

"C'mere baby boy." She said opening her arms up for a hug. "Did you get everything done at work?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow is going to be a 13 hour day. We start traveling in about a month." He said. "So, I might not be around much."

"See, you're avoiding the chaos." Lena said, pulling him into another hug. Stef walked out and saw the mother-son pair hugging.

"Hey, is everything good out here?" Stef asked. Lena looked to Greyson to see if everything is okay.

"Yeah, great." Greyson said walking passed them into the house. The couple looked at each other before linking hands and going in themselves.

* * *

Both Stef and Lena were up early the next morning, they walked downstairs to coffee being made and Greyson dressed for work eating cereal reading the paper.

"Good morning Grey." Stef said as they walked in the room.

"Morning," he said. "Coffee is almost ready." He said looking up from the paper.

"Sounds good." Stef said. "You okay?"

"What happened last night?" He asked them.

"What do you mean?" Lena asked.

"I mean what I said, my boss is announcing her campaign for presidency late this morning and from that moment forward, her competition will find anything to use against her. So, what happened last night? I need to be prepared if they so choose to use that against us." He said in a very professional tone, that Stef and Lena had never heard before. "Full details would make my job a hell of a lot easier."

"We were getting ready to go to Brandon's piano finals for that scholarship," Stef began. "Then when I went up to get him downstairs and change out of my uniform, I couldn't find him. I came back down asked your mom where he might be and we checked your room to see if he was hiding from the chaos in there, but all we found was two weeks worth of dirty laundry."

"Which I will be getting out of your room later today, just fyi." Lena interrupted.

"Then Mike showed up at the door and your mom called Talya and she said that the last time she saw him was after seventh period with Callie. I then checked that app I have on all your guys' phones to see where you and/or your phone was at and it located them in San Ysidro. We drove there, Callie was trying to save her little brother Jude, the guy had a gun and was threatening to shoot Callie and Brandon. I went in there with my gun up and with an on duty patrol squad and had the guy arrested."

"I'm sorry if that means you have to work harder," their conversation was interrupted with Callie standing in the entryway of the kitchen.

"Callie..." Stef and Lena breathed. "This isn't your fault." Lena immediately said.

"Actually, if it gets out it kind of is." Greyson said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Greyson," Lena immediately chastises.

"What? I'm speaking truth right now. If this gets out, that my family is some kind of weird con artist or homeless shelter to foster kids, it can be used against my boss."

"How?" Stef asked.

"I had to preform background checks on you two a few weeks ago, when my boss came into my office and told me that she had filed her papers in to run for president. We wanted to make sure that your guys' past was clean." He said in another professional tone.

"Why would it matter?" Stef asked. She gets why it would matter, but she wanted to hear it from him. "How would they even find out?"

"I looked up San Ysidro on the internet last night. The police report showed up." He began. "And why does it matter? I'm working for a very conservative candidate, Stef." He argued. "This isn't a very conservative or traditional household."

"So what you're saying is you're ashamed of your own family," Callie asked. Greyson made eye contact with the teenager. If he was completely honest with everybody the answer would be yes, a little bit, but for the sake of his mom and her partner's feelings, he was going to lie.

"No, I'm not ashamed of this family, Callie." He began. "But, this non-traditional family could put my bosses campaign into jeopardy." He looked at the girl dead in the eyes before looking over at his mom who was sitting in Stef's lap. "Look, it's nice that you two are foster parents, I'm not condoning that. The things you two have done for Jesus and Marianna and will do for these two kids are incredible. I admire you both for that. But keep your delinquent, just out of juvie foster child and her brother safe and out of trouble, okay?" He said to his mom and Stef. "In fact, keep Brandon, Jesus, and Marianna out of trouble too. The last thing I need is to be cleaning something up because my boss is getting attack because her communications director's family can't keep their shit together."

"Language." Lena warned. She made eye contact with her son who was already stressed out.

"My point being, if you get in trouble with the law, I don't care if it's with Officer Foster over here or not, it can be used against my boss. My boss will never go nasty, but her liberal competition will. They will use anything. And the media is relentless. Stay out of trouble, Callie." He said pointing at her. He poured the rest of his cup of coffee into a travel mug and topped it off, pick up his messenger bag and said, "I gotta get to work. If you wanna watch her announce it, we'll be on CNN and Fox News at 11 o'clock." He kissed his mother goodbye, gave Stef the usual goodbye fist bump and walked out the door.

"I really am sorry." Callie said looking at her foster moms.

"We know, kiddo." Stef said. "He's just really worked up. It's his first real job and he doesn't want to screw it up." Callie nodded, she didn't want to make things difficult in the house, she just needed to save her brother.

"Can I ask a question?" She said hesitantly. "It's been bugging me since that first dinner when he said he is working for Senator Taylor."

"Sure, sweetheart," Lena said. "What's up?" She said getting a cup of coffee herself.

"Are your guys' political views different than his? Because you two apparently don't agree on anything politically," she said to Stef. "And you always have to play the peacekeeper," she said to Lena. "And even though he won't admit it, he _is_ ashamed of this family."

"When he was 17, he started reading the Wall Street Journal, LA and New York Times," Lena began. "Two of those are extremely liberal, I know, but then at Anchor Beach, he took a government class his senior year of high school. He became really conservative with everything." She grabbed Stef's hand, she knew that this next part wasn't easy for her to say and Stef to hear. "Which isn't always bad, but he started believing in things that we didn't. Like he doesn't believe that marriage should be determined by the government, which we partially agree with, among other things, that if I even say because it gets Stef worked up." The vice principal kissed the police officer's temple. "When he was 17, it was an election year, and he was turning 18 before the election, and when he was filling paperwork out for his license test, they also gave him a voter's registration form. I noticed on his form that he checked the Republican party box, and that's when I knew anytime things like education, healthcare, marriage, or anything political that it would be World War III in this house. I always play peacekeeper because it always gets out of hand."

"He loves us," Stef said. "But, he has a hard time showing it. We have our good moments and our bad. I have to remind myself to cherish the good ones and just forget about the bad. I love him like my own, even if he doesn't see me that way."

"Blood and DNA don't make a family, love does." Lena said.

"So your family is made up of pure love?" Callie questioned, really to herself, but it was said out loud.

"Yup." Lena said. "And it's the greatest thing ever."

* * *

Greyson was sitting in his office making last minute changes to the speech for his boss, Senator Dana Taylor. The receptionist walked in just as he was printing it off.

"Hey Greyson?" She said.

"Yeah?" He said trying not to be rude, but he had some other things to take care of before the big announcement.

"I know you're busy with last minute things, but you have a visitor who is adamant to see you right now."

"Okay, send them in." He said, not making eye contact with her. When she left he took a deep breath and when the visitor walked in, he wasn't expecting what was about to go down.

"Greyson Adams?" A deep voice said coming from the doorway.

"Yeah?" Greyson said to a man in a Class A Army uniform, who looked vaguely familiar.

"I know you don't know me, but I'm your father." Greyson chuckled.

"Very funny," He said. "I don't have time for games. Who are you and what do you want?"

"No, I really am your father." The man had a serious tone to his voice. Greyson walked up to him, he was a few inches taller than the uniformed man, so he was looking down on him.

"My mother told me at 15 when she had to awkwardly give me the sex talk with her partner that my father, General Clayton Jenkins died in Afghanistan right after I was born." He said with a stern look on his face.

"Well your mother was wrong. I've been trying to look for you for the past 15 years because I thought your name was Greyson Jenkins, not realizing that your mother put Greyson Adams on the birth certificate." Greyson stared at the man in front of him, he didn't have time for this, he had his boss announcing her candidacy for president in 20 minutes. But, the guy looked completely serious. He then quickly came to the realization that his mom had lied to him.

* * *

All that could be heard in the kitchen of the Adams-Foster home was Lena chopping a cucumber to death. After last night's episode in San Ysidro, Stef and Lena decided to not give Brandon a punishment, much to Mike's dismay, who had come over after work and told Lena exactly where she stood as a parent in Brandon's life, Stef somewhat sided with her ex husband after agreeing with Lena the night before that he didn't need a punishment.

"I'm sorry I ambushed you Lena, alright. This is just something that Mike felt very strongly about, obviously." Stef stood there staring at the love of her life chopping away the cucumber. "When you feel like talking to me Lena, let me know." She turned to walk out of the room.

"I thought we were on the same page, I thought we agreed." She said looking into the distance before looking at her wife. "I've never felt like a stepmother in my entire life." She said with the knife in the air. Stef tried to interrupt. "And just so we're clear, I'm done discipling Brandon if this is the way it's going to be from now on," Stef tried to disagree with her. "I'm just going to be good time stepmom from now on." She said waving the knife in the air. "You want some candy Brandon? Sure. Cigarettes? Smoke it up, lung cancer be damned. Want some booze? No? How about some heroin?"

"Ho, wow! Point taken! Please put the knife down, you're scaring me." Stef said. "Lena, come on love, what was I supposed to do? Mike is Brandon's father, and this was a huge decision and we didn't include him in it. Can you imagine how you would feel if this was Jesus or Marianna?"

"It's not the same thing," Lena snapped back. Stef agreed, "Mike is not the twins father!" She said washing the cucumber.

"Obviously, you know that's not what I meant. You would not like it if-"

"Parental decisions were made without me, yes. I get that, but what world is it okay for you to take Mike's side in front of me?"

"I didn't take his _side_, Lena." Stef said placing her hand over her chest. "I just simply said-"

"You humiliated me in front of him." She said turning around making her point.

"I'm sorry that is not what I meant to do, but you asked, what was I supposed to say?"

"You lie, Stef." She said looking down at her partner. "You lie." Stef looked up from where she was sitting, shocked that those words just came out of Lena's mouth.

"Okay," she said standing up. "I'm sorry. It's not easy for me either, y'know? It's no fun playing peacekeeper between you and Mike when you're acting like Israel and Palestine." They shared a look. "It kinda stinks." She whispered.

"Now you know how I feel when you and Greyson debate about politics." Lena whispered.

"Look," Stef said getting them back on subject. "Brandon has three parents. Period. No getting around it. And Mike had no right to say otherwise. I know that's not what he thinks. I really do. And we're all just trying to do our best to figure this out." They both took a deep breath, "I'm going to go talk to Brandon, alright?" She started walking away, "We're okay for now?"

"We're good," Lena said, somewhat sarcastically.

"Great." Stef said sarcastically, walking out of the room.

* * *

Everybody was sitting around the dinner table that night, Greyson walked in, they had all just seen the recorded press conference that Senator Taylor was running for president. Everyone in the house, except Callie and Jude knew how hard Greyson worked on that speech. As he walked in, everybody except them cheered.

"Good job, baby boy." Lena said kissing his cheek as Stef handed him a beer.

"Yeah, that was a kick ass speech," Jesus said.

"I might actually vote for her, if you keep writing her speeches." Stef said causing Greyson to spit out his beer a little.

"I don't see that happening." Greyson mumbled.

"Well convince her and yourself to change how you see our healthcare and education system among other things and maybe I will." Stef said sitting across from him.

"I also don't see that happening." Greyson said. "I'm not expecting you to vote for her. I know your political views Stef. In fact, please don't, I don't need you complaining when she's elected."

"How do you even know she's going to win?" Marianna asked.

"We speak things into existence around Senator Taylor's office." Greyson said.

"So you guys are like a religious organization," Callie said bluntly. Everyone's eyes went wide because they all knew Callie had a mouth, but so did Greyson. He wasn't the nicest when he's being fired at. That's why when alcohol, Greyson, and Stef are in the same room, Lena is right there with them playing peacekeeper. After a few moments of silence, Greyson had no comeback.

"That's a new one, haven't heard that insult before." He said. "Good one, Callie." Again everyone sat in silence as Lena put dinner on the table. He always had a witty comeback, for everything. Dinner was filled with Marianna talking about something that happened in her health class that day and Jesus making comments at Brandon for missing his piano recital the night before. Lena kept trying to make eye contact with Greyson, but he kept eating and looking at whoever was talking. Lena knew something was up with her son, she just didn't know what.

* * *

After dinner, Stef and Lena gathered everyone in the living room to talk about Callie and Jude's living arrangement. After being decided that Callie would room with Marianna and Jude with Jesus. The twins weren't happy about it.

"Why can't Jude crash in with Brandon?" Jesus argued.

"Or have Brandon move down with Greyson and they could share a room." Marianna backed up her brother.

"Because until Brandon forks over $350.00 of a paycheck for rent like I do, I ain't sharing a room." Greyson argued back. "And Brandon is older, cut your moms some slack guys. Suck it up."

"I thought you lived here rent free?" Callie said remembering his comment about that the other night.

"So did I." Lena said looking over at Stef.

"We'll talk about that later, love." Stef said to her wife.

"Anyway, we're going to need help settling them in tomorrow, so all of you come straight home from school." Lena said. "Callie and Jude are crashing on the couch one more night."

"Now get." Stef said and all the kids scattered. Stef walked into the kitchen with Lena right behind her.

"Is there any reason why my son is paying $350.00 a month in rent now?"

"I just asked him if he could help out around the house. And then pulled out his check book and wrote my a check." Lena glared at her wife. "Come on, my love, we have two more mouths to feed. We could use it."

"So, I get you saying that Mike has say in what we do to punish Brandon, but are you forgetting that Greyson is _my_ son? The reason why he is living here is to save up for his own place."

"I never asked for rent money," Stef argued.

"So you just took the check without trying to give it back?" Lena reasoned.

"I _did_ try to give it back, Lena. He wouldn't, you know how stubborn that boy is."

Greyson had come up for another beer when he saw his mom and Stef basically arguing in the kitchen.

"Greyson," Lena said.

"Mom," he said back not really looking at her.

"Expect $350.00 back in your bank account first thing tomorrow morning."

"Mom, no." He said walking over to her placing his hands on both of her shoulders. This is what they do when they want each other's full undivided attention. "Look, I know it came up at a wrong time, but the twins were getting to me and I had to say something to shut them up."

"You're saving for your own place." Lena argued.

"Yeah and with the amount I'm going to get for all the traveling will make it up. Come on, you have eight mouths to feed, three of those mouths are growing teenage boys. A little extra money won't hurt you."

Lena took a deep breath, "Okay, okay." She gave in. "Are you okay though? You let Callie get off with some serious stuff at dinner tonight."

"Just have a lot on my plate," he said. He wasn't going to say that he knows that she lied to him about his dad. This wasn't the place to do it. "And Callie's comment about me working in a religious organization was extremely clever. We may have another smartass in the house."

"Oh god," Lena said. "The two of you are enough." She said referring to him and Stef.

"Look, I'm under a lot of pressure right now." Greyson said. "This campaign is not going to be easy, but Senator Taylor is just as stubborn as I am. I'm going to have a lot of late nights, I'm going to be stressed, and I'm most likely going to unintentionally snap at any one of you guys, if not all. I need you to understand that."

"I do baby boy," Lena said. "I'm just worried about you. Have you been taking care of yourself?"

"Yeah, three well balanced meals a day. I go on runs every morning. A heck of a lot of water. The only thing that I'm not doing well with is the sleeping thing."

"Okay." Lena whispered. Stef just stood behind and watched the mother-son pair talk. They haven't gotten to do much of it lately, but she knew it made Lena feel at ease that they're having this conversation. "Is there anything else going on?"

Greyson took a deep breath, he knew he should tell his mom what happened today, but he was still trying to process it all, "No. I just have to finish that paper for my master's program class, so if I could go now?"

"Of course baby boy," Lena said handing him his beer that he had placed on the counter next to them. "You know where to find us if you need us." Lena said as her son kissed his cheek and walked down to his room.

"Do you really think he's doing alright?" Stef asked coming to wrap her arms around her wife, kissing her temple.

Lena settle back into her wife's embrace, "No, I don't. But, I won't push him on it until he's ready."

"Or until he ends up in the hospital again because he's not controlling his anxiety?"

"Whichever come first." Lena said.

"Look love, it seems as if we're not having a good day with each other and I'm really sorry." Stef said as Lena turned in her embrace.

"It's fine. I'm fine. Just don't take anymore money from my son without my knowledge, alright?" Stef just nodded. "I know we could use some help financially, but not from him. He looks like he's dealing with the world alone and that's not what I want for him."

"I love you." Stef said.

"I love you too." They stood in the kitchen resting foreheads against each other, swaying back and forth, Lena's arms wrapped around Stef's neck and Stef's arms wrapped around Lena's waist.

* * *

Callie was up staring at the ceiling, she had no idea what time it was, but she guessed it was close to 3:00am. She got up to get a drink of water and saw Greyson working away on his MacBook in the kitchen wearing glasses. He always tended to wear contacts, so Callie didn't know that he wore glasses. She tried to sneak by him, but her presence was made known by him.

"You okay?" He asked, looking up.

"Yeah, just can't seem to sleep. My brother's out like a rock though." Greyson nodded. "Are you okay?"

"I've got a lot on my plate right now." He said.

"You work long days, come home to a home cooked meal, and go hide in your room for the rest of the night?"

"I'm doing grad school online. My mom isn't too happy about it." He said with a chuckle.

"She worries about you a lot." She pointed out.

"I'm her baby boy," he said. "As much as I wish she didn't treat me like it sometimes, it's true. I gave her and Stef a lot of trouble when I was in high school. I was in my mother's office more times than not." He said.

"Do you know what was the cause for all the trouble making?"

"I was hurting, y'know?" He began, Callie nodded. She knew what it was like to be hurt. "My freshman year, there was this father-son camping trip with the football team, that was just supposed to give the team a time to get to know each other because we'd be playing all four years together, my dad obviously isn't in the picture, and my mom didn't want Mike to fulfill that role. So, I went alone. I had to go. I was the only one on the football team without a dad there. I remember lying in my tent the first night crying because I just wanted a dad."

"Do you know where he is?" Greyson winced a little at the question, he did now, but he wasn't going to fully open up to his foster sister.

"When I was 15, my sophomore year of high school, my mom and Stef were awkwardly giving me the sex talk. And I made the joke of how my dad should've stayed around long enough to give me this talk. And my mom looked at me with this pained look on her face and told me that my dad was a war vet and died in Afghanistan shortly after I was born."

"Oh wow." Callie said as she watched Greyson nod his head. "You seem like a goodie two-shoe like Brandon though. What kind of trouble did you get in?"

"There was one time where I got in trouble for three things at once and that was all me being in defiance because Stef had just moved in with us permanently. As you can probably see we don't get along very well."

"Yeah and part of me doesn't believe it's all because of your guys' conflicting political views."

"It's not all because of it, you're right. I'm still warming up to Stef living here."

"Hasn't she lived here for like nine years?" Callie asked.

Greyson nodded his head, "Doesn't mean I've ever been okay with it."

"So this time you were in your mom's office, it was because of your home life?"

Greyson nodded again, "It was the middle of freshman year..." He began.

**Flashback.**

It was heard all over Anchor Beach, "Greyson Adams please report to Vice Principal Adams office, Greyson Adams to Vice Principal Adams office." That wasn't the first time that week that he was called into his mother's office. It was his freshman year, he was trying to have a little fun while staying on top of his work because sophomore through senior years were going to kick his ass. He didn't know what he did to get in trouble this time, he could give you three reasons. 1.) He skipped homeroom, after his mom and Stef both told him to stop doing it. 2.) He got into a fight on the football field with a running back and Greyson won the fight. 3.) He just was defiant to his English teacher on not turning in a paper. Any of those could have his mother after him. He walked into his mother's office and sat down. When he finally made eye contact with his mother, it wasn't pretty.

"What is going on with you?" Lena asked.

Greyson made a face and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, you tell me."

"Skipping homeroom after Stef and I told you not to only to get in a fight during your free period with Levi Richards to lead into you tell Timothy to fuck off in English? What is going on? This is not the kid I'm raising you to be."

"How do you even know about that?" He asked his mother in surprise.

"Let's see, I get the roll from all classes to see if anyone is absent so I can call to see if they are okay. I notice that my son is absent from homeroom when I do remember him getting out of the car with me that morning. Campus security broke up a fight between two football players bringing one to the nurses office with a black eye and I get a call from Timothy today saying that you didn't turn in your paper."

"How did you know I was the other one in the fight?" He argued.

"Maybe because you're wearing your jersey and there's only one kid with the last name of Adams on the football team." She said with her eyebrows raised. He took a deep breath. "This would be the time where I'd ask if anything is going on at home, but I'm your mother, so I know that question and the biggest thing we have going on at home right now is that Stef and Brandon... moved in." It hit her, maybe the reason why he was acting out is because of her relationship with Stef. "Honey, what's going on?"

"Nothing," he said sharply while looking away.

"Baby boy," she said softly trying to make eye contact. "The only reason why I'm asking is because Stef and I need you to be a good example for Brandon."

"I never asked to be a big brother." He snapped. "I never asked for any of this. I'm so glad you're happy, Ma. I really am, but I'm having a hard to adjusting to it. Give me time."

"Okay. That's understandable," she reasoned. "But, you can't act out here. I'm really tired of playing devil's advocate with Principal Morgan on your behalf. Please use your anger on the football field when you need to tackle someone. Don't use it in the halls of Anchor Beach or at home towards me, Stef, or even Brandon. Got it?" He nodded, slightly unconvincingly to his mom. "We'll talk about this later, get back to class." She said and as he got up before he left, "And I mean it, go to class and behave or when you get home, you'll be sorry that you hadn't." He rolled his eyes when he opened the door. It was the start of a long relationship building.

**Flashback Ended.**

"So did you actually go to class and behave?" Callie asked curiously.

"Oh yeah, when Lena Adams says to do something, you do it." He said with a chuckle.

"Can I ask a question?" She asked hesitantly.

"Sure, what's up?" He asked.

"Why are you ashamed of this family?" She asked hesitantly again. "Your mom and Stef said that this family is made up of love, not blood and DNA."

"I'm really not ashamed, y'know?" He started. "Just at work, I tend to keep my personal life private. They know my mom is gay, she and Stef have been to the office numerous times for lunch. They do it just to make sure I'm eating three well balanced meals a day. But, you'll never hear me talk about them when people talk about their weekends and family gatherings and stuff." Callie looked off into the distance. Lena's child is a little bit ashamed of being in this family, is it really made out of love? "Look Callie, I know what you're thinking and I just want to say that this family is made up of love. You're in a safe place. You're in a loving place. Those two up there are going to provide more for you than it looks like you're previous foster homes did. Trust them, even if this is only temporary, let them take care of you." The two share eye contact for a moment, "And stay out of trouble, okay?"

The both shared a chuckle, "Will do Greyson."

"Alright," he said placing his fist out for a fist bump. "Try to get some sleep before the chaos begins." Callie nodded and went back into the living room, where her brother instinctively cuddle up next to her. Even if this was temporary, Greyson had a point, this was by far the best foster home they had been in ever.

* * *

**End Of The Chapter:** There ya go! Also, I'd like to take this time to say, I _do not_ by _any_ means work off of your reviews. If I'm completely honest, I _do not_ like them. They actually discourage me from continuing to write. So, you'll be getting updates as my life allows.


	3. Until You Realize

**Author's Note: **Glad to see that some of you are enjoying the fic. I do wanna say if you don't like what you're reading, don't read it. Please be easy on the reviews. Like I said at the end of the last chapter, some reviews tend to discourage me from writing. If I have to I will keep reiterating how much I hate reviews. And I know Greyson is a dick right now, but in time he will get better.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Until You Realize**

Callie was walking home from school with Jude and Mariana. It had become a common thing over the last month that they were living together. Callie's walls were still up, she didn't want to be hurt when they were taken away to find a more permeant home. She kept telling her brother Jude to not get attached because he would get hurt. As the three walked up to the house, Greyson pulled up being home early from work.

"Greyson!" Marianna said, excitedly.

"Hey Mari." He said with a smile.

"Is everything okay?" Mariana asked, "You're home really early from work."

"I have a couple days off before I start traveling." He said with a smile.

"Where are you off to first?" Jude asked curiously.

"San Francisco, for the Republican Party Convention."

"How long are you going to be gone?" Mariana asked.

"About a week because we're going to Arizona for a few days next." He said. "Don't worry, I'll be back in time for your quinceañera." He pulled his younger sister into a hug.

"Good because I want the entire household to be there." She said. "But, if you can't make it because of last minute work things, I understand too."

"Don't worry," he said. "The senator always makes sure we put family first."

"Cool," she said and she and Jude went inside as Greyson pulled his messenger bag out of his car. Callie just looked at him, confused.

"What's up kid?" Greyson asked when he turned around to see that his foster sister was staring at him.

"You haven't put your family first since I've gotten here. You admitted to me that you're a little ashamed of this family. Why are you telling Marianna all that?"

Greyson took a deep breath, "Gotta keep that front up." He said with a fake smile. The two walked inside to see Lena helping Jude with his homework.

"Greyson," she said, "you're home early."

"Yeah, the senator gave me tomorrow and Wednesday off, before we start traveling. I'll be gone until next Thursday."

"Just in time for the chaos of Mariana's quinceañera." She said with a smile.

"Oh yippee!" Greyson said sarcastically. "You know I don't do well with chaos."

"Yeah and look at your job." She said.

"There's a difference between organized chaos which is my work and dramatic chaos that is a teenage girl."

"True." Lena said. "Are you going to be joining us for dinner?" She said hugging him, noticing how much weight he's dropped since taking this job.

"Yeah, of course. I need to get some school work done."

"Okay," he left her embrace and headed towards his room. "Wait, Greyson..."

"Yeah, Ma?" He said rubbing his brow.

"Is everything okay? It looks like you've lost a lot of weight." She said concerned.

Greyson took a deep breath, "Mom..."

"It's a legitimate question." She asked. "I know that you've been skipping lunch all the time and you haven't really been home for dinner lately. I just need to know."

"I've lost a couple of pounds because of the stress at work." He said placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's not that big of a deal. Stop worrying so much."

"You're my baby boy. I'm always going worry about you." She kissed his cheek as Stef walked in.

"Ah, the workaholic is home early." She said coming to give Lena a hello kiss and gently punch Greyson's bicep.

"I'm traveling until next Thursday starting Thursday."

"You'll still be home for Mariana's-"

"Quinceañera, yes. Unless an emergency comes up at work."

"Are you always going to put work first?" Stef asked. It took Greyson back by surprise. He didn't know how to answer that.

"What?" He asked.

"Ever since you've taken this job for the senator, you've been at her beck and call."

"I'm her communications director, Stef. What do you expect from me?"

"For one when you're going to miss dinner a courtesy text message would be great. And for you to stop missing things that are important around here."

"I'm not a kid anymore, Stef." He said looking at her. "I can't just drop my life like I used to anymore. I told you I'd be there for Marianna and Jesus. I'm not going back on that. I just need everybody to understand that I have a job and I need people to start taking that seriously." He argued, a tone that Lena never likes him to use with her wife.

"Don't use that tone with her, you know she's just trying to help." Lena said stepping in.

"Oh really?" He argued now looking over at his mom. "Is she really trying to help, Mom?" Lena tried to say yes, but was immediately cut off by her son's anger. "Like did she try to help you by going along with your lie?" It slipped out of his mouth so smoothly. He didn't want to bring it up, he vowed to himself to just keep it to himself, and not say anything.

"What lie?" Lena said looking at him. There was no going back now. Greyson was shocked, but still angry. He fought it before he said anything. Does he go with his anger and let his mom know the truth? Or does he go with his shock and lie again? The anger was winning.

"That my dad was a war vet that died overseas shortly after I was born?" The anger won. Lena wore a shocked look on her face. Stef wrapped her arms around her wife's waist, knowing the truth behind why she even lied to him in the first place.

"H-h-how do you know that's a lie?" She stuttered out.

"20 minutes. 20 minutes before my boss goes to the roof of our building to announce to the nation that she's running for president, a General from the United States Army comes into my office claiming he's my father. I make a joke about how that couldn't be because while my mother and her partner were awkwardly giving me the sex talk six years ago, she told me that my father died in Afghanistan serving our country. Then he showed me his California Driver's License proving that he was him."

"How do you know it wasn't fake?" Stef stepped into argue.

"Because I know what a fake ID looks like," Greyson said realizing what he was saying out loud to a San Diego Police Officer and backtracked, "My friends had them in college." There was no way he was going to admit he had one. He knows the differences between the two. "Plus he then showed me his Military ID. I don't think they hand those out like candy."

"H-h-he showed up?" Lena said.

"Yeah, in his uniform and everything." Greyson said.

"If it was 20 minutes before your boss announced her campaign for president, why have you been holding that in for a month?" Stef asked for her somewhat distraught wife.

"What was supposed to say? _'Hey Mom, a guy in a military uniform showed up in my office today claiming that he's my father.'_? I was trying to process it all." He said to Stef before looking at his mom. "We had a no lying policy in our house from the moment I began to talk. I don't lie to you and you don't lie to me. It's only fair." He took a deep breath and took a step closer to his mom, trying to calm down, but the whole situation made him mad. "I just need to know, why did you lie?"

"I don't know what's more embarrassing that I lied to you and you found out or that I walked away from a guy who would've taken care of us." She began. "He was the last guy I ever dated. I was pregnant with you and so scared of who I was. I was afraid to come out, it was the early 90s. It's just not what you did, but I was determined to raise you on my own. Then you were beginning to date freshman year in high school and I didn't want Mike to fulfill this father role in your life. I thought having me was enough. So I took on that role of father. Then I realized that giving you the sex talk when you were first dating Rachel. Then you made that joke about your dad staying around, you never asked about him before. And then when the lie came out of my mouth it shocked both me and Stef. I was a coward and didn't think things through. I didn't think he'd try and contact you. I can't begin to say how sorry I am."

"I was livid at first, y'know? I had to go back to the reality of my job. Stand behind Senator Taylor and pretend I had my whole life put together, luckily we were outside so my aviators cover the glassiness that was in my eyes, but my boss came in an hour after her announcement ended seeing me pacing back and forth and she asked if I was okay, and that's all that took for me to break. She shut the door and my boss who is paying me a hell of a salary had to calm me down from my panic attack." Lena looked directly into her son's eyes. "So, I'm sorry if I've pushed you away a little. I just need time to forgive and I thought I already had, but I guess I didn't." He looked at the both of them. "I'm going to be traveling a lot, it'll give me time to think. I love you, but I'm hurt."

"Okay," Lena whispered. "I understand. I love you too."

Greyson started to walk away before he turned back, "I have an old childhood in friend in town, we're going to get drinks and catch up, I think that would be better than me having dinner here." He turned back around and walked away. Stef held Lena in that position for awhile. Before Lena went back to helping Jude and Stef went to change out of her uniform before starting dinner.

* * *

Dinner was tense to say the least, everybody heard the argument between Lena and Greyson. Mariana tried to fill in the silence, but it didn't last long. Everybody seemed to eat in a tense silence before cleaning everything up and retreating upstairs. Lena retreated to take a bath upstairs. Stef was at a loss of what to do. She thought maybe she could sit on the couch with a beer for awhile.

Callie was sitting on the couch in the family room when Stef walked into the living room. The teenager didn't look happy.

"Callie," Stef said, slowly. When the teenager acknowledged her foster mom, she said her next words even slower, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She said sharply. Stef looked at her curiously. Callie had been warming up to them a little as each day went on, but she was still that same cold girl that she met in her kitchen a month prior.

"Are you sure?" Stef asked sitting next to the teenager.

"Why do you even care?" She said, quietly. She expects Stef and Lena to ignore her, forget about her existence. Just like all her other foster parents. She keeps telling Jude to not get attached because he's going to get hurt, but her problem now was she was getting attached and she didn't want to get hurt. She still had her walls up, but learning that this family is made up with love and despite Greyson being the biggest asshole ever, she saw the love that Stef and Lena had for each other and their kids, and the love that their kids have for them. It was heartwarming for her, she didn't want to get attached. This wasn't permeant, this was a safe and loving place, but not their home.

"Because you seem upset and despite whatever is going through your head right now, Lena and I do care. We're on your side."

"This isn't permeant. You two aren't going to keep us. I don't want to get attached, but I am. I'm sure you know, my past foster homes haven't been as safe and loving as this. I'm scared." She said looking into Stef's eyes. Stef took a deep breath. "So, am I okay? No. I'm barely holding myself together. I just came down here so I didn't have to hear Marianna's conversation with her friend about some random boy at school." Stef chuckled and nodded. She knew those conversations with Marianna are relentless sometimes.

"I know everything is up in the air right now with you and Jude. And I'm sorry that you're getting attached. That was never any of our intentions. I'm glad that this is a safe, loving place for you two. I can't say that we'll do anything to make us get you unattached, that's just not our nature. But, in the meantime, just take life one moment at a time. Don't focus on the future. Let us love and take care of you. Because who knows, maybe things will change." Stef said with a shrug.

"Thanks Stef." Callie said, feeling a little better.

"You bet and if you ever feel overwhelmed again, come to one of us, okay?" Callie nodded. "Alright, I'm gonna give you a hug." Stef said pulling the teenager a hug.

"Is Lena and Greyson going to be, okay?" She asked after a few minutes.

"I wish I knew." She said.

"That argument was pretty intense," she commented.

"Things had already been tense between them anyway," Stef said, wrapping her arm around her foster daughter. "You were right, he is a ashamed of this family."

"I'm sorry I even brought it up," Callie said.

"Don't be," Stef said. "When he got home that night, I guess that had been plaguing Lena's mind all day. So she went downstairs to ask him. When she came up in tears, I asked her what was wrong, and then she said that he said that he didn't support our relationship 100%. After I calmed her down, I went downstairs and saw him working on his laptop in the kitchen."

**Flashback.**

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Stef asked walking into the kitchen. It took the communications director off guard.

"What are you talking about, Stef?" He asked briefly looking up to her and then back down to his laptop.

"You're mom just came up crying. She managed to hold herself together until I wrapped her up in my arms and asked what was wrong and she told me that her son, who has lived with us since the beginning, isn't in 100% support of our relationship." Greyson's eyes went wide. Of course Lena would tell Stef.

"Stef-" He tried, looking up from his computer, making eye contact with the police officer.

"I've seen a hurt Lena Adams before, but I've never seen a broken Lena Adams before." She said. Greyson tried to interrupt again. "No, you don't get to talk." Greyson sighed and sat back a little. "I thought we had an unspoken agreement, you could only continue to live here if you were 100% behind me and your mom. I know it hasn't been easy. I know we don't agree on everything. Hell, your mom and I don't agree on everything, but at the end of the day that doesn't matter because our love, which shouldn't matter to anybody, but us, is what's keeping us together. I know your right-wing conservative views are what are making you be so closed minded, but this is a new low for you, Greyson." A tense silence filled the kitchen, Greyson took this time to speak up.

"So, are you asking me to move out?" He asked.

"As much as I want to Greyson, your mom would kill me. So no. But you can bet that your keeping your mouth shut about how you feel about gays and gay marriage." Greyson rolled his lips and nodded before he watched her walk out of the room.

**Flashback Ended.**

"So he supports it a little, at least?" Callie asked.

"He supports his mother's happiness, but he doesn't support how she's happy." Stef said.

"Wow, that's low."

"Yeah."

"I guess this would be a good time to apologize about that dyke comment when I first moved in." She said slowly.

"That was a rough day for you," Stef said. "No harm done."

"Okay." She said settling into her foster mom's embrace. The two sat there in a peaceful silence for a long while. Stef was determined to make Callie feel loved and Callie was determined to bring some comfort to Stef. Both of that was working.

* * *

"I have a lead on a job after I pass the bar," Greyson was catching up with his childhood best friend, Sarah Rondel at the hotel bar she was staying in during her visit from Boston.

"That's cool," he said looking up at her. "How's Amber?" He took a sip of his beer. He didn't even know why he asked, he wouldn't ask his mom how Stef was doing.

"She's good. Working away at Harvard Medical, she should have her doctorate in the next year or so."

"Oh boy," he said. "A lawyer and a doctor in the same house. Watch out Boston." He joked.

"Very funny." She said. "What about you, Senator Dana Taylor's communication's director? How'd you score that gig?"

"I was her intern my senior year of college and I did a lot of what I do now. Minus all the PR stuff." He said.

"How does Officer Foster and Vice Principal Adams feel about you working for a conservative?" She asked curiously.

"Stef is the one who hates it the most, I swear if we have another debate about healthcare, it's not going to be pretty. My mom plays peacekeeper all the time. I feel bad, so does Stef. So we tend to always keep our debates when it's just the two of us. My mom only doesn't like the job because it's stressful and I'm getting my master's degree online. She still worries about me too much."

"Last time I checked you were her baby boy." She said with a smile. "I'm sure that hasn't changed."

"It definitely hasn't." He chuckled. "She's backed down a little, but she's still there. I live in their basement, so I guess that comes with its territory."

"Are you still not in support of their relationship?" Sarah asked. Greyson almost spit up the beer he was drinking.

"I was never-" He was cut off by his friend glaring at him. "Okay, yes. I'm still not 100% support of their relationship."

"You never liked her, which I never understood why," she said. "She seemed really cool."

"How did you feel when your mom remarried Chris?" He asked knowing her stepdad wasn't an easy subject to talk about. "Because if I remember correctly, you hate his guts."

"That's because he's _not_ my father." She said. "I tolerate him now."

"Since when?" He said looking at her.

"When I came back from Harvard after my first semester, he and I had a real heart-to-heart." She began. "I told him that it's not that I hated him, but he married into a family that had a pissed and confused 11 year old girl, who didn't understand why her father had to die and her mom had to move on. He then told me that he never meant to replace my dad. Then at the end of our talk he asked a question that I'm going to ask you in a rephrased kind of way."

"What's that?" He looked up from peeling the label off of his beer.

"How long are you going to _not_ be in support of your mom and Stef's relationship before you realize that love is just love?" Greyson looked up at his friend. That question hit him hard in the chest, he had more to think about then he thought. Then she hit him with another question, "How long is it going to take you to realize that Stef loves you just as much as your mom does, like her her own? Officer Foster, isn't going anywhere, you might as well figure out a way to accept them completely." The table in the hotel bar got quiet. He for the first time, didn't have an answer to either question.

He began to reevaluate his life.

* * *

Stef walked into her and Lena's bedroom after checking on all of the kids. She saw her wife sitting on their bed folding Greyson's laundry.

"You should make him do that," she commented.

"I think I've caused him enough trouble for one lifetime," Lena said. Stef managed to find her way behind her wife and start rubbing her back. "You're too good to me."

"There's no such thing, my love." Stef said kissing her shoulder. "I love you and will always take care of you." Lena finished folding Greyson's dress slacks before putting them in his basket, pushing the basket away, and leaning back into her wife. "Are you okay?"

"I'm mad." She said softly. "And as much as I should be mad at Greyson for blowing up at me for a whole block to hear basically, I'm mad at Clay for showing up at Greyson's office like that and I'm mad at myself for lying to him." Lena let tears fall down her face.

"Hey, it's okay." Stef soothed. "He'll eventually come around. He's going to have to if he's going to keep wanting to live in this house."

"I'm not kicking him out Stef." Lena said. "I thought we both agreed on that."

"You agreed to that," Stef said. "I never agreed to that."

"I don't wanna be one of those kinds of parents who kick their kids out simply because they don't agree with them." Lena said softly.

"He's been nothing, but a jerk since Callie and Jude have gotten here." Stef pointed out. "And luckily he's been somewhat civil to them, but to us, he's just been a douche. How can you still let him live here?"

"Part of me is optimistic that he'll turn around." Lena said.

"And the other part?" Stef said kissing her neck.

"Wants him to know just how bad his views on life hurt me." Lena said. "Almost have him feel the pain I have been feeling since he took the internship with the senator. To feel the pain I've been feeling since your guys' first debate on immigration when his senior year of high school. To feel the pain I've been feeling since he openly admitted that he's only in support of my relationship with you because I'm happy, but not why I'm happy. I just want him to feel the pain I've been feeling-" she broke down in tears.

"Oh my love." Stef breathed out wrapping her arms tighter around her wife. She held her wife as she cried, occasionally the blonde would whisper an I love you in her ear. Cursing her stepson for making the love of her life feel like this. After she calmed down, Lena turned in her wife's arms and kissed her softly.

"Thank you, baby." She said softly.

"For what?" Stef asked kissing her softly again.

"For just being amazing." Lena said leaning in for a small make out session.

"You're welcome, my love." Stef said when they pulled back. "I love you."

"I love you too." Lena said laying her head on her wife's chest. They two of them heard a soft knock on the door. "Come in," Lena called. When the door opened, Jude slowly stuck his head in. "What's up sweetie?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for helping me this afternoon when it's evident that you didn't have the energy to."

"You're welcome." She said with a small smile.

"C-can I ask a question?"

"Sure," Stef said, gesturing for him to come closer to them.

"Why doesn't Greyson like us?" The preteen asked. "Me and Callie?"

"What do you mean?"

"He just ignores us unless we come up to him and even then he still asks like we don't exist."

Stef shared a knowing look with her wife.

"When we took your sister in," Lena began. "We had said that until he or Brandon moved out, we wouldn't foster anymore children because there's not much room in our house as you can see." Jude nodded. "When Stef and Brandon moved in with us he had a hard time with it like I expected. Going from an only child to a big brother was hard for him. Then we we took Jesus and Mariana in, he had an even harder time with it. He feels the need to protect and now he has five siblings to protect. And he has it in his mind that if you and your sister aren't going to be here for long, so he puts walls up."

"But why is he against your guys' relationship?" The couple looked at each other and then back at him. "What? I can be really preceptive and Callie filled me on the blanks I was missing."

"He just views things in a very conservative perspective." Stef said.

"Aren't the conservatives the ones that make people feel unsafe when they are gay?" Jude asked curiously.

"Not all of them," Stef said. "But most of them do, yeah." They saw Jude freeze. They suspected that he might be gay himself, but was too afraid to come out.

"I just don't understand why, I guess." Jude said. "If I had a mom or even two like he does, I'd support it. Is there something wrong with being gay?" He asked hesitantly.

"There's nothing wrong with it," Lena said. "What's wrong is the people out there who make people like us feel unsafe because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter who you love. It matters if you're a good person." Jude nodded. He didn't ask or say anything, but a good night to the couple. Lena cuddled back into Stef and they just looked at the door. Hoping that the Jacob siblings will eventually feel safe and loved here. Temporary or not, they wanted this to be a safe haven for the siblings to come to.

* * *

Greyson stumbled into the house around 2:00am. He wasn't drunk, his buzz was long gone. As he walked through the kitchen down to where his bedroom was, he saw his mom up drinking tea in silence.

"H-hi." He managed to get out when they made eye contact.

"Good thing you have tomorrow off, yeah?" She said in a joking sense to make him feel more at ease being around her.

"Y-yeah." He stuttered. "W-what are you still doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep." She said simply. Greyson rubbed his brow. "Who did you have drinks with?"

"Sarah, she's in town before going back to Boston to take the bar test." He said.

"Sarah Rondel?" She asked curiously. He nodded. "I had no idea she was in town this week."

"Yeah," he said. "She's leaving tomorrow, she says hi." An awkward silence began to fill the kitchen. Lena was about to say something until Greyson beat her to it, "I'm an asshole." Those three words came off of somewhat of a surprise to the mother.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"I've been driving around for the last three and a half hours just thinking." He said. "Sarah had to get back up to her hotel room." He quickly said to cease any confusion with his mother. "She got me thinking. She and Amber are starting to get real serious, y'know? And she asked me how long I'm going to only be in support of your relationship with Stef because of your happiness and not because of who you love." Lena's breath hitched. Was this really happening? She had suspected for a long time that he only supported her relationship with Stef because she was happy. She knew he didn't necessarily like the prospect of two moms. "I drove and drove and drove. I pulled up into Anchor Beach for the first time since graduating. I walked alongside the beach, I began to think of all those times where I just discounted Stef because she's a woman and because you're gay." He sat across from his mother and looked her in the eye and said, "I became a conservative because everybody around me made fun of me for two reasons, 1.) I was the assistant vice principal's son, so everyone thought I was a goodie." He smiled and reached out for her hand. "And 2.) because I had two moms who loved me unconditionally instead of a mom and a dad." Lena looked at her son, she could sense he had more to say, "Senator Taylor isn't as conservative as you think she is, her brother is actually gay. So, the senator didn't make me like this. Those kids at Anchor Beach, who were my peers did. And for the longest time I thought, if I would just believe differently from what I was raised, that'd make me a better person. It actually just made me an asshole. And, I'm sorry."

Lena grabbed both of her son's hands and said, "It's okay." She made direct eye contact with him. "For the longest time, I wanted you to feel the pain you caused me and Stef, but then I just decided to not do that because you're my son and I raised you to stand up for yourself. And you did, but I could sense there was some hurt there, I just didn't know where. Sometimes verbal hurt is much worse than physical hurt. Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it." She saw tears forming in her son's eyes. "I think it'd be good if you apologized to Stef too." She said looking at him. "She wants to know what the hell she did wrong, y'know?" Greyson nodded.

"I'll take her out to lunch on her lunch break tomorrow." He said softly.

"Okay," Lena said standing up. "Let's get you to bed, party animal." The two walked down into the basement where his room was he quickly changed and Lena tucked him in like she did when he was little. "Good night, baby boy." She said kissing his forehead.

"Night, Mom." She started to walk out of the room when she heard, "I love you." She turned around to see her 21 year old son half asleep with a small smile on his face.

"I love you too, Grey." She turned off his light and walked up the stairs. "I love you too," she whispered when she got to the top.

* * *

Stef walked into a small hole in the wall diner that she and Greyson go to when he asks her out for lunch. She spots him in their usual corner booth, waving at their normal waitress on the way to him. Greyson sees her and immediately jumped up to greet the police officer properly. They do their normal handshake: Stef's fist on top of Greyson's, vice versa, repeat once more, fist bump. Stef then slides to in her side of the booth. She stares at the menu when she notices that her stepson was shaking with big nerves.

Stef knew how to handle a fragile nervous Greyson Adams, "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, oh yeah." He said unconvincingly.

The police officer put her menu down and looked at him seriously, "Come on Grey, you know I know that is not true. "

"I'm an asshole," he said, a little too quickly. Stef bit back saying, 'duh, I could've told you that,' but she heard Lena's voice in her head telling her to be nice. "I had a couple drinks with Sarah last night."

"Sarah Rondel?" Stef asked, she always was fond of the kid. Greyson nodded. "How's she doing?"

"Good, just graduated from law school. About to take the bar." He said taking a swig of his Dr. Pepper in front of him. "Anyway," he said getting back on track, "she phrased two questions that made me drive around for about three hours last night. She asked me how long I was going to only support my mom's happiness and not her relationship before I realize that love is just love and then she basically asked me about how long am I going to fight your genuine love for me before I realize that you love me like I'm your own." Stef made eye contact with him. "And don't get me wrong, I still don't agree with anyone of your views on healthcare, immigration, education, but I am going to support your relationship with my mom. I know you've been together since I was 9, so about 12 years now, but I am going to be in full support of relationship with my mom."

"What about Senator Taylor?" Stef asked, knowing full well that his boss is a conservative.

"She's not as conservative as you think."

"What do you mean?"

"Her brother is gay," Stef was shocked to hear this revelation. "She just doesn't go out and advocate it as much as you and my mom would probably like."

"Oh, okay." Stef said.

"I'm sorry for not supporting your relationship sooner and for causing my mom to play devil's advocate on my behalf with you. You know I love you, right?"

"It's debatable most of the time." Stef said as the waitress came and placed her coffee down.

"Well, I love you, Stef." He said. "I may never call you mom because that's just not our thing, but you _are_ another mother to me."

"That's good to know." Stef said looking up to him. The pair sat for the rest of lunch talking about pretty much anything. From the Padres to the Chargers to his mom and when they were finishing eating their meal, Stef had to ask one question, "What do you think of Callie and Jude?"

Greyson looked up at her and said, "They're cool kids that deserve a break." He said simply.

"You know Jude thinks that you hate them right?"

"What, why?" He asked quickly.

"You dismiss them most of the time," Stef said. "You are always checking in with Brandon, Jesus, and Mariana, you don't ever check in with them."

"Oh wow," he said looking down rubbing his brow in frustration. He had been doing that. He made a mental note to make sure to check in with them like he did his other siblings.

"We don't know how long they're going to be with us, your mom and I are talking about keeping them for good. No decisions are made yet, but we want them to feel at home. Could you be a little more welcoming to them?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. I'm so sorry." He said trying to figure out a way to make it up to the Jacob siblings. Stef watched as Greyson sat for the rest of lunch in deep thought. She knew something was brewing inside his head. She just didn't know what.

* * *

**End Of The Chapter: **Greyson gets better from here and you'll even see him bonding with Jude a little bit as the chapters continue. Next chapter will be focused on the Quinceañera before a little more drama ensues.


	4. Where You Belong

**Author's Note:** Greyson gets better from here! Here you'll see him as a big brother to all five of his siblings, the Jacob siblings included! Mainly to Jude, but you'll see him be a big brother to the rest of them too.

Thank you for going easy on the reviews, especially since I'm not a fan of them.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Where You Belong**

Greyson walked in from his week long business trip to chaos. He knew he should've prepared himself better when he got a text message from Stef asking if he could pick up dinner on the way home, he could only hope that his grandmother, Dana Adams was not here already to scrutinize his work schedule. He only had so much patience left in him.

"Hello?" He called throughout the house. "I come baring food!"

"We're in the kitchen, kiddo." Stef called. As he walked into the kitchen, it was evident to both Stef and Lena that the communications director has been running on nothing, but little sleep and a lot of caffeine for the past week. Stef took the three large pizza boxes out his hands while Lena tightly hugged her son.

"How was your trip?" Lena asked as she placed both hands on his cheeks smiling up at him.

"It was alright," he said with a small smile. "I'm looking forward to my own bed tonight, that's for sure."

"When do you have to start traveling again?" Lena asked as Stef went to go get the kids for dinner, giving the mother-son pair a couple of minutes to themselves.

"A couple weeks, I'll probably be gone longer though two to three weeks. We want to get ahead of the game if we have a chance to win." He saw the sadness in his mother's eyes, "Don't worry, Mama. There's always Skype and FaceTime."

"I know, baby boy." Lena said, "I am going to miss you."

"I know, Ma. I'm going to miss you too." He said as Stef walked back in with all the kids. "Are you okay? You seem to be getting skinnier and skinner every time I see you."

"I'm fine," he said softly kissing his mom's cheek.

"Greyson!" Jesus said, "You're home."

"Sure am bud." He said giving his younger brother a high five.

"Good," Jesus said. "I need help on the Call of Duty level."

"Alright, maybe after dinner, okay?" He said giving Mariana a hug.

"Sweet," he said sitting down.

"Hey Callie, hey Jude." Greyson said as they were the last two that walked into the kitchen for dinner.

"Hi." Jude said as he took his place next to him. Callie acknowledged him, kind of weirded out that he's even acknowledging their existence, as she took her place next to Jude.

"Mom, Mama," Jesus said.

"What?" The couple said at the same time as Stef placed a beer in front of Greyson.

"Not that I'm complaining, but doesn't pizza violate Mama's we must always eat healthy rule?" He asked curiously.

"We've been getting things ready for Mariana's party on Saturday that I asked your big brother to pick up dinner on his way home from his debrief meeting at his office." Stef said. "Which reminds me," she said turning to Greyson, "receipt please? We'll reimburse you tomorrow after we both get paid."

Greyson gestured no, "Don't worry about reimbursing me." The couple looked at him curiously. He always wanted to be reimbursed. "I'll just take off the amount of the pizza off my monthly rent."

"You're still paying rent?" Brandon asked his stepbrother curiously. "I thought Mama told you not to?"

"Well," Lena cut in for her son, "both he and your mom talked me into how much we need it. He just isn't paying as much as that first time."

"It teaches me how to be independent and responsible," Greyson added. "The only time I've lived on my own was my freshman year of college when I lived in the dorms. This is almost growing me up, a lot." Brandon nodded his head.

"So you being home means that you can come to my quinceañera on Saturday?" Mariana asked with a little bit of hope.

"Yeah," Greyson said. "I told the senator that I needed the day off for a family occasion and she was more than willing for me to give me the day off. Can't make any promises that she won't call though. We had to negotiate somewhere." Mariana got excited and ran over and hugged him. He looked over at his mom and Stef who were mouthing a thank you as he nodded his head, Mariana let go. The family fell into a peaceful silence eating their pizza. Even though it was a break from the chaos, Greyson was happy to be home.

* * *

Saturday mid morning, Greyson walked up to the kitchen from his bedroom in the basement seeing his mom and Stef complimenting each other as Stef was trying to initiate a little make out session, when Greyson walked into the room messing with the cuff links on his suit jacket, the couple stopped what they were doing and looked at him. When the man heard silence, he looked up.

"What?" He said. As they were looking at him like they've never seen him dressed up before. "Oh, don't act like you haven't seen me all dressed up before."

"Yeah, baby boy." Lena said. "In a suit for work, but you look better today."

"Thanks Mom." He said as the two of them shared a knowing look.

"Hey Greyson," Stef started. "You're half Mexican, right?"

Greyson was taken back for a moment, "Um that's the most _half_ racist thing I've heard come out of your mouth Officer Foster, but yeah."

"I just meant, like you know how these Quinceañera's work and stuff, you've had the honor of being someone's escort before..."

"I get it Stef," he said. "I was just taken back by your somewhat racist comment."

"Okay, well, you've been a big brother, almost like a father-like figure to the twins since they've come into our home. They look up to you and we know this is last minute, but Mariana doesn't want to dance with us, I was going to ask Mike, but the I realized how weird that is and how much your mom hates the idea, so you're our next best option."

"Uhhm, sure. Yeah, I don't mind." He said confused why Mariana doesn't want to dance with them. "You know you don't have to be Mexican to dance with her right?"

"Yeah, but it might be nice to have-"

"A half Mexican, one-quarter black, one-quarter white male dance with her?" He chided, playfully.

"Yeah kinda," Stef mumbled.

"Thank you, baby boy." Lena said kissing his cheek before straightening his tie for him.

"You're welcome." He said slowly.

"Also, can you take Jude with you?" Stef asked. "We have to go pick up Lexi and the other male escort. And we have Talya and Grams with us too."

"Yeah, absolutely." He said with the most confidence that he's ever had in the entire conversation. He's been meaning to spend a little more time with the boy. The right opportunity just hasn't shown itself yet.

"Thank you." They both said, "You're amazing baby boy." Lena added.

He shrugged, "Can I ask something?"

"Sure," Stef said.

"Are you two hurt?" He asked carefully.

"Hurt about what?" Stef asked.

"That Mariana isn't dancing with you two?" He said, knowing that they were looking forward to it.

"I mean," Lena said. "A little, but we get it."

"You know how those kids at Anchor Beach made fun of you for having two moms?" Stef asked. Greyson nodded. "I'm sure she's feeling the same way."

"Really?" He asked pretty unconvinced. Mariana always stood up to the people who didn't agree with her moms' relationship.

"Yeah," Lena said. "Not everybody goes out and tries to fit into society like you did. By forming to their culture and beliefs."

"Wow, thanks for making me feel worse than I already feel, Ma." He said looking down, scratching his head. He's still beating himself up for what he did to his mom and Stef for years. Stef looked at her stepson and knew what he was thinking.

"Hey, look at me." Greyson slowly looked up. Stef put her hand underneath his chin just in case he'd look down again, "Your mom didn't mean any harm in that. She just meant that Mariana doesn't want to dance with us because she's embarrassed, just like you were. You two are two completely different people with difference in opinions. Which is good, we love you. That hasn't changed." Greyson looked into his stepmother's eyes having a hard time believing that she loved him. All those thoughts went out of his mind when both Stef and his mom were hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry, baby boy." Lena said before pulling away. "I didn't mean for it to come off that way." Greyson just shrugged, he had no right to be hurt or offended. She was right. "Hey," she grabbed his face. "What's wrong?"

"You're right," he said looking at her. "I have no right to feel hurt or offended. You're right."

"Oh baby boy, c'mere." She said pulling him in for a hug. Stef slipped outside with the gift bags letting the mother-son pair have a moment. "I love you." She said in a way to make sure he knew. "And you're the first best thing that happened to me." She kissed his cheek. The kitchen had a peaceful silence to it until...

"Well, well, well," Lena's mother, Dana said. Lena watched as her son tensed and eyes widened. Lena and her mother didn't have the best relationship and Greyson and Dana equally didn't have a good relationship. "If it isn't the infamous communications director for Senator Dana Taylor.

Lena then saw her son put a fake front up, "Grams," he said in convincing surprise. "It's nice to see you." Lena could tell by her son's shoulders that it wasn't nice to see her. Ever since he took an internship with the senator, it was World War III between the grandmother-grandson pair. Lena tolerated the pretty well thought out debates between her son and wife because at the end of it, a point is made, whether it be in a peaceful way or in Lena stopping the debate before it got out of hand.

Lena watched as Greyson went over to hug his grandmother, "I didn't think you were going to be able to make it," she said. "You know, world traveler and all."

"Nation traveler," Greyson corrected. "The only time I've ever been outside the states was to Mexico with the family when I was 16."

"Same difference, right?" Dana said. Lena saw her son roll his lips together taking a deep breath. His anxiety always picks up when her mother is around. She wrapped her arm around her son's waist and pulled him closer to her. She knows that's a quicker way to calm him down.

"We should get going," Lena said looking at the clock on the oven. Dana slowly walked out of the kitchen and Lena turned to her son, "Are you going to be okay?" She asked, knowing the last time he saw his grandmother, it wasn't pretty. She saw her son working himself through a small panic attack. "Hey, hey. Look at me." Lena said. Greyson made eye contact with his mother, who always had helped him through these attacks. "Breathe in." She said breathing in, helping him. "Breathe out." She said breathing out. They mother-son pair worked through the breathing exercise as Stef came back into the room. The police officer watched in awe with how her wife managed to calm anybody down. Especially her stubborn son who refused to ask for help in any manner.

"Hey," Stef said when they were finished. "We need to get going." She watched as her wife never took her eyes off of Greyson. She saw the worry in Lena's eyes as Greyson grabbed his keys off of the counter. "Is everything okay?" Stef asked when Greyson stepped out.

"My mom always causing his anxiety to spike." Lena said. "He may not make it through this weekend without another panic attack."

"So, we'll keep him close. Watch him. And take care of him when it happens." Stef said, wrapping her arm around her wife's waist. Lena nodded. "Come on, my love. Let's go." The couple walked out of the kitchen into Greyson stepping into big brother mode to get everybody outside.

"You all look nice, now let's go, let's go, let's go!" He said gesturing to everybody out of the house. "Jude, buddy, you're with me." He said and Stef and Lena watched the boy's face light up. And knew that they were right having Greyson take Jude.

* * *

"So, how are you doing, bud?" Greyson asked Jude as they were taking off to the hall where the quinceañera was going to be held.

"I'm okay." He said looking up at Greyson.

"You enjoying Anchor Beach?" The older boy asked.

"Yeah, it's cool. The teachers are nice." He said not making much room for conversation. Silence filled the car all that could be heard was the radio playing lowly in the background.

When they were stopped at a stoplight, Greyson looked over to his foster brother and asked, "You okay?"

"Do you like us? Me and Callie, I mean." Jude asked innocently.

Greyson felt his heart sink at the question. While he was gone, he was Skyped into some of the dinners at the Adams-Foster home and he tried to check in with all of his siblings, Callie and Jude, especially. "Of course I like you two," he said. "I know I haven't been showing it in the way I should. But, I do."

"I mean you've been checking in with us. Which is nice, but is it because Stef and Lena said something about it?"

"Partly." He said. "You two are cool kids that deserve a break. Sorry it's taken me longer to show that to you both."

"I mean, it's okay." The young boy said looking up at his older foster brother. "You're doing it now right?" Greyson nodded. "There's no need to dwell on the past. You can't change it."

"You're probably the wisest 12 year old I know." Greyson said.

"The foster system teaches you things at a younger age." He said simply. "You learn to protect and fend for yourself. We learn to be more than just kids with screwed up childhoods." Greyson's eyes widened a little. He never knew something so profound could come out of the mouth of a 12 year old boy.

"You're a cool kid, y'know?" He saw Jude smile. "Maybe you and I could hang out tonight. I'll talk to my mom and Stef. A little brother-brother bonding. I do it with Brandon and Jesus all the time."

"You do?" Jude said in confusion.

"Well, I've been a little busy recently." The communications director said.

"I'd like that." Jude said with a smile. Not every day does an older foster brother even pay him a second of attention.

"Cool, I'll talk with my mom and Stef." Greyson said pulling in behind Stef to the parking lot of the hall. He was on a mission to make Jude and Callie feel like they belonged. And this was a start.

* * *

Halfway through the party, Greyson was asked to join Mariana on the dance floor. When he arrived at the dance floor to start dancing with Mariana, he couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

"Why what, big brother?" She asked.

"Why am I dancing with you and not your moms?" He asked more directly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm honored and they get it, but those strong faces over there should be over here dancing with their daughter." He spun her. "I don't get it, you always were proud of them. What changed?"

"Nothing changed." She said. Greyson gave her a _'how stupid do you think I am'_ look. Mariana looked down, "Everybody else has a dad to do this dance with them. I just wanted to be normal."

"You're a Foster," he said spinning her again. "Normal isn't in your vocabulary."

"You're one to talk, you've been ashamed of moms for years."

"Doesn't mean I still am." He said spinning her one last time. "The difference between us is that I didn't have them fork out a shitload of money to be embarrassed about them. I didn't have my actions completely show them that I was ashamed of them. They never realized it until Callie came into the picture and saw right through me." As the song ended, he realized that he had been laying the guilt on deep and that's not what his intentions were. "Just show them that you love them, okay? They have to watch you grow up from that scared little girl that sat at the police station with her brother." He kissed her forehead and walked away. She started to realize how selfish she was being about the whole thing. And as everyone around her started to dance, she put a happy face on, just for one moment before slipping out to try and pull herself together.

* * *

A half an hour later, guests were starting to leave and Greyson came up to his mom and Stef who were wrapped up in each other's presence. The communications director cleared his throat.

"Oh hi, baby boy." Lena said making eye contact with him.

"What's up kiddo?" Stef asked.

"You mind if I take Jude for some brother-brother time?" Greyson asked. He watched as his mom and stepmom's face lit up.

"Of course," they said in unison. "Just have him home at a reasonable hour please." Stef said.

"Sure thing," Greyson said. "He seemed to express and interest in the batting cages earlier, so we're going to go home change and do that. Plus, I'm going to initiate a love for go-cart racing in him as well." The couple chuckled, seriously glad that Greyson is taking a part in this family.

"Are you trying to get out of seeing your grandmother tonight as well?" Lena asked. When she saw his back straighten and neck crack, she knew the answer.

"Look, I love her, but I'm so overwhelmed with life right now, that I don't need another panic attack." He said.

"That's fine, I was just wondering." Lena said kissing his cheek. "Go have fun being a big brother."

"Thanks. I love you guys." He said kissing his mom's cheek and doing a handshake with Stef.

"We love you too, kiddo." Stef said as he walked away. The couple stared at him in awe. Thanking whatever it was to have him turn around and be a big brother to his foster siblings. It was the start of something beautiful.

As the foster brother pair left, the couple started looking around for Mariana. When they found her, trying to pull herself together still, and when they walked up to her their hearts broke.

"Mariana," Stef said. "Is everything okay?" They were met with tear-stained eyes.

"What the matter?" Lena asked. "Aren't you having a good time?"

Mariana looked up at her moms and said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Stef asked.

"For being selfish." The girl said looking back down at the hands in her lap.

"Honey," Lena said walking over to the other side of her, "what are you talking about?"

"This party. It cost so much. You both worked so hard. And I didn't dance with you. I should've danced with you. I have the best moms in the world and I should've danced with you."

"Baby," Stef said reaching up to caress her daughter's face.

"Honey," Lena said, "it's okay."

"No, it's not." She said looking at Lena. "I'm sorry." Lena shook her head as Mariana looked at Stef, "I'm sorry."

"You know what you need?" Stef asked. "A mama sandwich." She said getting up to hug her daughter. "A mommy sandwich." She said as she and Lena kissed the side of her head. They sat there for a few minutes.

"What caused you to think like this?" Lena asked placing her chin on the top of her daughter's head.

"When Greyson was dancing with me, he asked why he got the honor of dancing with me and why I wasn't dancing with you guys. And he asked what changed since I've always been proud of you guys. And when I told him that he had no room to talk, he said that the difference is he didn't have you guys fork out a shitload of money," Lena gave her daughter a look, "his words not mine." She nodded and continued. "a whole lot of money for him to be embarrassed and ashamed about you guys."

_"Way to lay on the guilt, Greyson." Stef thought to herself._

"How about we do this," Lena said. "The deejay is still in there. How about we go dance with you now?"

"Really?" Mariana asked.

"Why not?" Lena said kissing her temple.

"And we will be talking to Greyson just so you know." Stef said. "He had no right to lay on the guilt like that." Mariana nodded. "Come on, let's go dance, baby." The couple took both of their daughter's hands and walked her back into the hall to dance with their daughter.

* * *

Greyson and Jude had went home to go change and were now on their way to a place that had batting cages and go-carts. In the short time that the communications director had known the young boy, he had never seem the kid so excited.

"Are you excited?" Greyson asked, trying to keep himself together. Life had been so overwhelming for him that he felt on the verge of a huge panic attack coming on. And he didn't even know what triggered it.

"Yes, so excited!" Jude said. "I haven't been this excited in a while."

"I can tell," Greyson said through a nervous chuckle.

"Are you okay?" Jude asked. "You seem tense."

"I'm good, my grandma's presence always tends to have my anxiety spike." He said.

"She seems nice though." Jude said.

"Yeah, you aren't her grandson that was conceived on a one night stand." He said. "She's always held that over my mom's head."

"That's stupid." Jude said softly.

"It really is. It's petty."

"Have you ever had a good relationship with her?" He asked.

"Not really, my grandpa and I had a better relationship because we related on football. She and I just haven't found anything to relate on."

Jude nodded, "Would you like a good relationship with her?"

"I mean, yeah." Greyson said. "I want the kind of relationship that the twins and Brandon have with her. I get really jealous. I try to impress her so much to get her to acknowledge me for more than just a kid conceived and born out of wedlock."

"Do you think that's why your anxiety always spikes around her?" He asked.

"That could be it." Greyson smiled a little. "You're a really smart kid."

"I wish my test and homework scores could attest for that." He said softly looking down at his hands in his lap.

"I was a horrible test taker." Greyson said. "And when I did do my homework, I wasn't the greatest at that either."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I barely made the grades to stay on the football team." Greyson said. "I was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder when I was eight. Which basically means I can't comprehend information the first time it's told to me. It's like a block in my brain that lets me hear information, but not completely understand it."

"Wow," Jude said. "Is that why you take your job 100x more serious than anybody I've ever met?"

"Yeah," he said. "I understand politics like the back of my hand because in high school, it peaked my interest. And it took all through college for me to really understand it." Jude nodded. "You're not defined by your grades bud."

"Yeah, Lena tells me that all the time."

"She told me that all through college." Greyson said, pulling into the parking lot. As the two got out of the car, they heard Greyson's name being called. When they both looked in the direction of his name being called, Greyson saw his boss, Senator Dana Taylor with her two children close behind. "Hey Senator." He said as Jude awkwardly stood next to him.

"Please, we're not in the office, call me Dana." She said. "Who's this?" She asked referring to Jude.

"Oh," he said. "This is my foster brother, Jude. Jude, buddy, this is my boss, uhm Dana."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Jude." The senator said. "I've heard a lot about you and your sister."

"It's nice to finally meet you, ma'am. I've heard a lot about your campaign." Jude said.

"You have?" The senator said eyeing her communications director.

"What can I say? My left-wing liberal stepmom talks about you a lot." He said with a shrug.

"Ahh, yes, Officer Foster." She said remembering. "Oh, Jude, these are my kids, my daughter Ashleigh and my son, Micah."

Jude shook both of the kids' hands, "I'm Jude." He said. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Ashleigh said.

"Yeah, nice to meet you." Micah added.

"We were going to have a little brother-brother time to get away from the chaos that is at the Adams-Foster house right now, but if it's okay with you Jude to have them tag along?"

"Of course!" He said with a smile. Yeah, he did want to hang out with Greyson alone, but when his eyes awkwardly met Micah's, he wanted to hang out with the rest of them too.

"Sweet." He said bringing in his foster brother for a side hug. "And Dana, it's on me."

"Are you sure?" The senator asked.

"Yes, trust me, I know it's apart of the budget, but you paid for my room service for a week. Let me get this."

"Okay Grey." She said with a grateful smile. So the five of them were off for an afternoon of fun.

* * *

A few hours later, Greyson and Jude were heading back to the car to be home in time for a small dinner with the family. Or at least that's what they thought. Greyson then stopped because he couldn't breathe. The panic attack that had been slowly coming onto him all day had just broke into a huge panic attack right there in the middle of a parking lot.

"Greyson," Jude said noticing his foster brother's struggle to breathe. "Greyson?" He was freaking out. Luckily, the senator got over just in time.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Greyson, he can't breathe." Jude managed to get out. The senator looked over to see her communications director trying to breath slowly again, but before she could make it over there he passed out.

"Ashleigh," she called out to her 14 year old daughter. When the girl came over she said, "Call 911! He's passed out cold." The teenager nodded and then she turned to Jude, "Do you know the number to the Adams-Foster residence?" Jude nodded, he had just learned it when he was hanging out with Conner after school one day. "Call them," she said handing the boy her phone, "and tell them we're taking Greyson to the nearest hospital." The boy nodded as he very shakily dialed the number of his foster home.

* * *

Stef and Lena were making dinner in the kitchen in a peaceful silence when they heard the landline ring.

"I almost forgot that we had a landline," Lena said.

"Oh, is that what that is?" Stef joked as Lena picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

_"L-Lena?" A very distraught Jude managed to get out._

"Jude?" Lena said concerned. "Is everything alright?

_"Greyson..." Is all the boy can manage to get out._

"What about Greyson honey?" Lena asked. Stef immediately was at her wife's side with her hand on the small of her back.

_"H-he had a-a bad panic attack and he passed o-out."__ Lena's eyes widened as the boy continued. "We're headed to the nearest hospital. His boss is with me."_

"Okay honey, it's okay breathe." She heard the boy take a deep breath. "You said Senator Taylor was with you?"

_"Y-yes."_

"Can you put her on the phone for me please?" Lena heard the shuffling of the phone before she heard a female voice. She was freaking out internally. Her baby boy had a serious panic attack and she wasn't there to help. She felt Stef rubbing her back soothingly.

_"Hello?"_

"Hi Senator, it's Lena. Greyson's mom."

_"Oh hi Lena, what's up?" She asked thinking that her foster son just gave her all the details._

"What hospital are you going to?"

_"The closest one to here is UCSD Medical Center, that's where we're headed."_

"We'll be there shortly." Lena said quickly.

_"See you soon!"_ _The senator said before hanging up._

Lena hung up the phone pretty quickly just as she did Stef asked, "What's wrong?"

Lena turned to her wife and buried her face into her shoulder, "Greyson had a severe panic attack, he passed out, he's being transported to UCSD Medical Center right now."

"Alright, we need to alert the rest of the kids, and get going." Stef said taking action.

"Stef," Lena breathed out. This wasn't the first time that Greyson's panic attacks caused a hospital visit, but each time scared Lena more and more.

"He's going to be okay, sweetheart." Stef said running her fingers through curly, dark hair. "But, we need to get going." Lena nodded and stood still as her wife turned off the stove, went upstairs to alert all the children, and called Lena's mother Dana before ushering her family out the door to go see their brother and to go basically rescue Jude from a situation that they weren't sure if he knew how to handle it.

* * *

**End Of The Chapter: **Sooo yeahhh. I'm not too sure if I liked how that turned out or not.


	5. Don't Let Me Down, I'm Happy Now

**Author's Note:** Here we go! It starts becoming more and more of an alternative universe in this chapter, I'm veering completely away from original cannon starting here. Like I said in the beginning, this story has a heavy OC storyline. I may add cute scenes from original cannon, here and there, but don't count on a lot.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Don't Let Me Down, I'm Happy Now**

The short drive to the hospital was the longest drive of Lena's life. Longer than when she, Stef, and Mike when to San Ysidro to pick up Brandon, Callie, and Jude a month before. All she could think of right then was her son, who had promised and reassured her on many occasions that he's fine. Was he lying all along? Was he really taking care of himself? She thought back to that Monday night during her baby boy's freshman year of college where he was so homesick for a home cooked meal and his mother's cuddles, even being a short twenty minutes away, he went into a panic attack that the Adams-Foster household will forever remember as the first scare that the now communications director had given them. When Stef pulled into the parking lot and parked as close to the hospital as she could, Lena and Callie just about ran in. Callie ran in for Jude and Lena did for Greyson. When they all got in there, a doctor was talking with Lena.

"He had a severe panic attack," the doctor said. "That's for sure. However, that's not what caused him to pass out."

"What did?" Lena asked as Stef came behind her and placed her hand on the small of the vice principal's back. The doctor gave Lena a confused look on who Stef was. "Oh Dr. Tyler this is my domestic partner, Stef Foster."

"Oh, nice to meet you." The doctor said shaking Stef's hand. "Anyway, what caused him to pass out is that for a man that is 6' 4" he should be between the weight of 160 to 200 pounds. Your son is 130 pounds right now. He is bordering the severely underweight category. The panic attack just pushed him overboard."

"Is he going to be okay?" Stef asked for Lena who has a scared look on her face.

"Yes; however, we're going to need to get him on a regular eating regimen." The doctor said. "Snacks throughout the day, no skipped meals. Stress to a minimum. I know his job is stressful, I've already talked with his boss." The doctor said gesturing to the senator behind them. "She's going to start checking in with him to make sure that he's really taking care of himself, take a little of the pressure off of him with the campaign. I know he's an adult, but we're going to need you two to be on him a lot. Make sure he's taking care of himself." The doctor made eye contact with Lena, "He can overcome this. It isn't _impossible._ We just need to help him take care of himself." Both Stef and Lena nodded.

"Can we see him?" Lena asked timidly.

"Of course, just you two for now. Don't want to overwhelm him. Follow me." The couple followed the doctor back into the room where Greyson was. He had a breathing mask on and was asleep. Lena placed her purse on the chair and immediately grabbed her son's hand. Stef stood behind her wife, she watched as the man's eyes opened.

"Oh baby boy," Lena breathed. The look of pure confusion looked over his face. "You had a severe panic attack and your low blood sugar made you pass out." Stef watched as her wife, the love of her life, hugged her son so tightly. "You lied." She said, running her fingers through his hair. "You promised me you were taking care of yourself. The doctor said you are bordering a severely underweight category." He tried to talk, but Lena quietly shushed him, "No, no. Don't talk." She said soothingly.

He grabbed the mask and pulled it down, "Where's Jude?" Lena looked to Stef and they shared a knowing look. There he was lying in the hospital and all he cared about was his foster brother.

"He's out in the waiting room with everybody else." Lena said.

"The doctor didn't want to overwhelm you with everybody in here at once." Stef said as Lena placed the mask back on Greyson. "Do you want to see him? I'll send him back with the doctor." Greyson nodded. "Okay, we'll get him."

Stef and Lena walked out of the room and Stef had a small smile on her face, "What honey?" Lena said grabbing her wife's hand.

"He's in the hospital, he knows he probably potentially scared our foster son, so he wants to see him." She said. "He really did turn over a new leaf last month after apologizing to us."

"He really is trying, babe." Lena said. "He's really trying." As they made their way out to the waiting room, all the kids jumped up. "He's okay." Lena said. "He wants to see you Jude. How about you go back with the doctor?" Jude nodded as he made his way back with the doctor to see Greyson.

Greyson's boss stood up when they left, "Officer Foster, Ms. Adams, I just want to apologize for not keeping a better eye on him. He had many late nights and I thought he was at least taking care of himself in other aspects."

"It's not your fault, Senator Taylor." Lena said softly. "You're his boss, we don't expect you to baby him."

"I saw that there was a problem," the senator said. "I don't know why I didn't tell him to take a few minutes, to eat something."

The couple saw the United States Senator, beating herself up, they weren't going to lie, they wanted to blame her, but it wasn't her fault. It really wasn't, they knew that the communications director was stubborn.

"Hey," Stef said. "Don't worry about it. He's the most stubborn kid we have. He's not going to like us being on him from now on, he's going to wanna go back to work right after he's released, but the three of us, will need to be on him. Don't beat yourself up for something that isn't your fault."

The senator nodded, "Thank you, Officer Foster."

"Please, call us Stef and Lena." The police officer said.

The senator nodded, "And you both can call me Dana."

"You're representing us in DC, that ain't happening." Stef said in a somewhat joking matter. The three women chuckled.

"Fair enough." The senator said. "H-how is he?" She asked referring to Greyson.

"He's stable," Lena said. "He was really worried about Jude."

"The kid was absolutely terrified, that's for sure." The senator said. "The whole way over he was real quiet. I mean, quieter than his usual quiet personality. He's a good kid though. Your foster son, correct?" The couple nodded. "Good for you two, giving love and a home to children who need it. That's very noble and brave." The couple smiled and both whispered a thank you and looked at each other and instantly knew that they were thinking the same thing and both simultaneously looked over at Callie who was looking off into the distance.

* * *

Jude slowly approached Greyson's room and when he finally got enough courage to walk in, he immediately made eye contact with Greyson.

Greyson pulled down his mask again, "Hey buddy."

"H-hi." He said. "Aren't you supposed to be wearing that until the doctor tells you otherwise."

"It'll be hard to talk to you if I have it on." Greyson said weakly. "C'mere." He gestured the boy closer. Jude walked closer to his foster brother. "It's okay. I'm okay."

"Y-you could've died." He said.

"Hey, hey," Greyson said softly. "Breathe for me bud." As Jude was breathing, Greyson had to put his mask back on and breathe himself. Jude just grabbed his hand and looked at his foster brother with tears in his eyes for about five minutes, not knowing what to say or do. Just then Stef, Lena, and Senator Taylor were outside the door. Jude walked to his foster moms and gave them a hug. Not knowing what else to do and then walked back to the waiting room giving the three women a chance to talk to him.

"You scared the hell out of me, Adams." The senator said. Greyson said sorry in sign language. "It's okay, just don't do it again." He nodded. The senator then watched Lena grab Greyson's hand and Stef placing her hand on the small of her wife's back and then her other hand on Greyson's knee.

"Baby boy," Lena said softly. "The three of us have been talking about what we're going to do. The doctor wants to put you on anxiety medication after we get you healthy. We know that the stress makes you not want to eat. So, the senator over here is going to make you take a lunch break."

"I don't care if we're on the road, on the go, or in a press conference." The senator said. "If it's noontime, you're eating. No debates. No questions. Nothing. You _are_ eating."

"And at home," Stef took over. "no more skipping dinner like you have been for the past month." They saw his eyes go wide. "I know you've been doing school and working, but no more skipped meals."

"Wait," the senator said. "School?"

"He's going his master's degree online." Stef answered the senator.

"And you didn't feel the need to tell me this?" She directed towards her communications director.

Greyson pulled the mask down, "I'm almost done, after this semester, I'll be done."

"Okay," the senator said as Lena put the mask back on Greyson. "And you're taking Monday and Tuesday off, just so you know. No questions." Greyson's eyes went wide. "I know, we have a huge interview with CNN Newsroom on Tuesday, but I'll call you so you can prep me, but other than that, I don't want to see you in the office until at least Wednesday. And I will be checking in with your mom and stepmom Tuesday night. If you aren't back up to working standards, you won't be working until you do. So I suggest, if you want to work any time soon, you be a good patient to these two." She said gesturing to Stef and Lena. "They love you and you scared them shitless." Greyson nodded in understanding. "I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life either." Greyson looked at his boss straight in the eyes. "I'm going to let your family take over from here. You've got siblings who wanna see you and I have kids to get home." Greyson nodded and she squeezed his shoulder a little before leaving the room after Lena told her to send all their kids, Callie and Jude included back.

Before the kids made it back Lena looked at her son, "Don't scare us like that ever again, baby boy." Greyson nodded. "I love you so so much." Lena kissed his head when the kids came in.

"Hey bro," Jesus said.

"Hey man," Brandon said right after.

"Big brother," Mariana breathed.

Greyson jumped back a little because the said it one right after another and he was getting a little overwhelmed, as he wasn't expecting it.

"Okay kids," Stef said. "Let's not overwhelm him. He has some kind of anxiety medication in him, but that may not help your overwhelming presence."

Callie and Jude stood by the door, not wanting to interrupt an Adams-Foster family moment, they wouldn't come in, not even when Lena gestured for them to, "We don't want to interrupt a family moment." Callie said softly. She pulled Jude closer, the couple shared a look, they didn't know if they were in awe of their foster kids respect or they were heartbroken because these two didn't feel like family. They then turned around and sat on the bench right outside the door.

"What's going on with them?" Stef asked the room.

"They don't feel like family," Jesus said. "You said it yourself, our home is only temporary until Bill can find them a better place." Stef looked from her son to Lena where they both shared a knowing look.

"Would you guys be opposed to the idea?" Stef asked.

"Of having two new siblings?" Mariana asked.

"Yeah, I mean," Stef said looking at Greyson who was evidently drugged, "I know this isn't a time to ask that question, but I feel like this is our first family moment in a long while and I want them apart of it."

"Yes, of course." The twins said in unison.

"There's enough love to go around," Brandon said.

"What about you kiddo?" Stef asked Greyson.

The man pulled down the breathing mask, "Why not?" He said weakly. "They are starting to feel more and more like family." He placed the mask back on and Stef looked over to Lena and she nodded. They walked out of the room, hand-in-hand, to meet the Jacob siblings. When they walked out of the room, they saw Jude cuddled into Callie, and they both were staring out into space.

The couple sat on both sides of them, Lena by Jude and Stef by Callie. The siblings looked in between their foster mothers, "Hi." Stef said.

"Why aren't you in there?" Callie asked.

"We were going to ask you the same thing," Lena said.

"We aren't family," Callie said. "You all were having a family moment, we didn't want to be jerks and interrupt that."

"You are family though." Stef tried to reason.

"This is just a stopping place to a permeant home." Callie retorted.

"Not if we can help it," Lena said.

"What does that mean?" Jude asked softly.

"What if we make this a permeant home?" Stef asked.

"Really?" Jude asked with hopeful eyes. "Like you wanna adopt us?"

"We think you guys deserve a permeant home," Lena said. "And we would love it if it was ours."

"Unless you don't want it to be..." Stef said.

"No, I want it to be." Jude said. Lena pulled him into a hug.

"What about you, Callie?" Stef asked.

"You really want us?" Callie asked.

"Yeah, of course." Stef said.

"What about your kids?" Callie asked, knowing that it was always a package deal in the Adams-Foster household. "How do they feel about this?"

"They want you in the family just as much," Lena said. The couple saw that Callie wanted to say yes, but something was holding her back.

"So, is that a yes?" Stef asked.

"Y-yeah." Callie said as she and her brother were being wrapped up in the hugest hug that was known in the Adams-Foster household as a mama sandwich.

When they let go, Stef said, "Then come on, let's go take care of your stubborn big brother." The four of them walked into the room.

"Well?" Mariana asked.

"Looks like we're going to be roommates for sure." Callie said.

"Yes!" Mariana, Jesus, and Brandon said all at once. Wrapping the two of them in a group hug. When they came out of the group hug Callie went over to Greyson for the first time and the man opened up his big brother arms to give her a hug.

When she left his embrace, she said, "You look like hell."

He pulled down his mask and said, "Of course that'd be the first comment to come out of your mouth to me." He placed the mask back over his mouth. Stef held Lena from behind as they watched their kids interact with each other, Lena still had one of Greyson's hand interlaced with hers, it was the start of his recovery.

* * *

A couple of days later, Greyson came up to the kitchen from his room. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a San Diego State University sweatshirt with a pair of slippers. He normally would be dressed and at work on a Monday morning, but his boss insisted that he took a couple of days off. His mom and Stef had been watching him like hound dogs since he was released from the hospital the day before. Stef was taking that day off and Lena was taking the next day. It was a rarity, but all the family was there for breakfast.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Stef said to a half asleep Greyson who was rubbing his eyes.

"Morning," he mumbled. His body was still getting used to eating more and taking anxiety medication. Lena handed him a mug of green tea, as he wasn't allowed to have coffee for another couple of weeks per doctor's request. She kissed her son's cheek before walking to get him breakfast.

"Mom," Jesus said. "You aren't working today?" He asked seeing that the police officer was still in her pajamas.

"Nope, I'm playing Dr. Mom to this one today," Stef said referring to Greyson.

"When do you get to go back to work?" Callie asked him.

"Hopefully Wednesday." Greyson said. "It can't come soon enough." He mumbled.

"That's if he is a good patient for your mama and I today and tomorrow." Stef said, placing a full plate of food in front of him. "Eat." She said referring to the communications director. Who just smiled and ate his food.

"So, can we ask?" Mariana asked seeing her brother stare off into space eating his breakfast.

"Ask what, Miss Thing?" Stef asked her daughter.

"Is it considered an eating disorder?" Mariana asked.

"Yes and no." Lena said. "Yes because he lost a lot of weight, but no because it was all stress related. It's not like he purposely didn't eat. Just the stress got the best of him."

"So he's going to be okay?" Jude asked.

"Of course, we just need to look after him." Lena said smiling at the young boy.

"Guys," Greyson said with a mouthful of food, "I'm right here. You don't have to talk about me like I'm not."

"Sorry baby boy," Lena said resting her hand on his forearm.

"Yeah, sorry big brother." Mariana said.

"It's okay," he said. "Everybody needs to stop walking on eggshells around me." He said. It was true, for the past 24 hours or so since he's been home they all have been walking on eggshells around him. "I had a little slip up. I'm fine." He said.

"It was more than a slip up, son." Lena said. "You dropped 30 pounds in a matter of four months and you had the biggest panic attack of your life that pushed you over the edge."

"Yeah, that's what I call a slip up." He said stuffing eggs in his mouth. His mother rolled her eyes. Breakfast was chaotic, trying to get the kids in and out for school. Greyson forgot about the chaos and remembered he sure as hell didn't miss it.

As the kids were leaving Stef and Lena stopped Callie and Jude, "Callie, Jude, can you wait a second? Everybody else go to the car." Stef said. Brandon, Jesus, and Mariana went to the car with the Jacob siblings hanging back.

"What's up?" Callie asked.

"I'm staying home with the communications director today, but I'm going to call Bill, we just want to double check to see if you really want to stay here."

The Jacob siblings shared a look, "We don't really wanna go anywhere else." Callie said. "This family is the best we've ever had since our mom died. Unless you two changed your minds and you don't want us here?"

"No, no." The couple said at once, "Of course we want you here, sweets." Stef said. "We want you both here. It feels like we're completely our family with you two."

"Okay then," Callie said. "yeah." Jude nodded in a agreement.

"Alright then," Lena said. "Go out to the car, I'll be there in a minute." The two kids nodded their heads and walked to the car. "Wow." Lena breathed.

"What, honey?" Stef said brushing some hair out of her wife's face.

"How they could think we would give up on them so easily, it's _sad_."

"They've spent the last six years of their life not feeling good enough." Stef said. "It's about time someone shows them that they are worthy to be loved and have a family."

"Well, I'm glad it's us." Lena said kissing her wife. Stef nodded in agreement. "I'll be home for lunch with you and the patient, have fun being Dr. Mom to the stubborn patient."

"See you at lunch time, my love." Stef said kissing her wife one more time. Stef watched as her wife left for work, she then turned around to the kitchen to see Greyson eating more. "Glad to see you have an appetite this morning."

"I'm glad between Brandon, Jesus, and Jude that there's enough food left." He joked.

"Yeah, those boys can eat." Stef said looking at her stepson. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"I was kind of hoping that we could be lazy and watch some tv today..." He said. "I haven't seen a SportsCenter in god knows how long."

"I like the sound of that," Stef said. "Your mom is coming home for lunch."

"Alright," he said. "You two are taking this Dr. Mom thing seriously, eh?" He said finishing what was on his plate.

"The senator had a point, you scared us shitless." She said. "Your mom wouldn't say a word on the way to the hospital. She wouldn't relax when I held her hand and rubbed circles on it with my thumb."

"I'm sorry, okay?" He said. "I thought I had everything under control. Then the stress got to me and I thought everything was okay." He started to hyperventilate a little. "I t-thought I w-was doing ev-everything good." Stef immediately was at his side.

"Breathe for me kiddo." Stef said. "It's okay, just breathe. In with your nose," Stef said doing with him. "Out with your mouth." When the boy finally calmed down, she wrapped him up in her arms, she felt him tense, this isn't what Stef Foster and Greyson Adams do. They don't do hugs, cuddles, or anything that she does with Brandon, Jesus, Mariana, and soon to do with Callie and Jude. This is what his mom does with him. He and Stef have had a rough relationship, we she came into his and Lena's life, he was just a confused 9-year-old kid, who didn't understand why his mother's ex girlfriend Gretchen had to hurt her so bad. Part of him expected Stef to do the same, even over ten years into the couple's relationship, maybe it was all subconscious now, but here in his stepmother's arms, he finally felt safe, like he didn't have to bare the world on his own.

"I-I can't do this anymore, Stef." Greyson said finding comfort in her arms.

"Do what, kiddo?" She asked kissing the top of his forehead.

"Subconsciously hate your guts because I'm afraid you're going to hurt my mom," he started to ramble. "Gretchen hurt her so bad and in return she did me too. I got really attached and then I come home from school and she's gone. No goodbye, no explanation. Nothing. Nothing except my mom crying on the couch. You have been with us for over ten years and I'm still scared that you're going to leave. That's why I always have had my walls up. That's why I haven't let you in. I don't want to get hurt again. I can't bare this world on my own anymore, Stef. I can't do it on my own. I need you two. I need my _moms_. I-I-" He started to cry.

"Hey, hey," Stef said. "Oh, my sweet boy." Greyson started to cry harder at the term of endearment. The only endearment the police officer ever called the communications director was kiddo. He never knew how much he wanted to be called that by her. "It's okay, I got you. Relax." She picked him up from the stool and carried him into the family room on the couch and held him closer to her.

When he finally calmed down, he buried his face into Stef's arm, "I'm sorry about that." He mumbled.

"About what? Crying? Admitting that you need help? There's no need to apologize for that. I just wish you would've come to us before you really needed help." She said running her fingers through the man's short hair. "Y'know when the doctor forced us to go home that night, your mom cried in my arms all night because she thought it was her fault."

"What do you mean?" Greyson asked, enjoying being in Stef's arms. "It wasn't her fault I lost 30 pounds in the matter of four months."

"She knows that, but she thought you took the stressful job because she didn't love you enough. We know Grams spikes your anxiety and we didn't do anything about it. We said we'd watch you carefully and then there you were lying in a hospital bed with a mask to help your breathing and she kept saying, if she would have done something different. Said something different. She blamed everything on herself, even though it wasn't her fault. You've gotta mama that loves you. And I love you too." The two sat there in silence for awhile, Stef hasn't had the opportunity to hold and comfort her stepson, so she was taking full opportunity to now.

* * *

When Lena came home with lunch several hours later, she wasn't expecting to see her wife and oldest son cuddled up on the couch watching ESPN. She placed the lunch on the coffee table in front of them and sat on the other side of her wife. Greyson was fast asleep in Stef's arms.

"What happened this morning?" Lena asked, referring to her son who was asleep in her wife's arms.

"We got to the bottom of why he was such a rebellious child and an equally hard-to-be-around adult." Stef said running her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah?" Lena said, placing her hand on her wife's thigh.

"Y'know he was a very perceptive kid." Stef said wrapping her free arm around her wife who snuggled into her. "When Gretchen hurt you, she in return hurt him to. He knew you were acting strong around him, but as an eight year old kid, he knew you were hurting so bad. So when I came into the picture half a year later, his guards went up. And subconsciously stayed."

"Do you think maybe all that time that we thought he was not supportive of our relationship that he really was just trying to protect himself from not getting attached to you in case you did leave and it came off as he didn't support us?"

"Maybe," Stef said kissing her wife's forehead. "He said that he needed his moms. It's a start." Just as they settled into a peaceful silence, Greyson stirred from his sleep. "Hey kiddo." Stef said.

"H-hey," he said groggily. "Do I smell a burger from Reagan's Diner?" He asked.

"Yeah baby boy," Lena said. "I knew you liked it. I tried not to go over the top with the pickles and onions and things because I know your stomach is fragile still."

"Thanks Ma." He said sitting up.

"You're welcome baby boy." She said as she saw her wife's arm stay on his back as he reached forward for the food. Lena smiled as she remembered the first night the three of them had together when Stef had moved in and Brandon was at his dad's.

**Flashback.**

"Hey Greyson," Stef said to a 13 year old Greyson. "You're a Chargers fan, right?"

Greyson came walking in the room in a Ladainian Tomlinson jersey looking skeptically at her, "No," he said sarcastically, "I just buy their gear because I'm _not_ a fan."

"Be nice Greyson," Lena said from her spot in Stef's arms on the couch. He rolls his eyes and sat down on the other couch.

"I'm just saying there's a game on," Stef said. "Was wondering if you wanted to watch it?"

"Mom doesn't understand sports," he said with a mouthful of rice in his mouth, gesturing to his mother with his fork. "So it's up to her."

"I don't mind watching the game with two of my favorite people." Lena said, kissing Stef's cheek. The three of them sat and started watching the game. Stef and Lena had been dating for several years and they were finally living under the same roof. Brandon was back and forth with Stef and with Mike. Greyson was sitting with his back to the couple, Lena was sitting in content in Stef's arms, and Stef was running her fingers through her love's hair while drinking a beer watching the game.

As Lena was dozing off, she heard her son yell, "Oh come on, what was that?"

"Seriously," she heard Stef mutter above her behind the beer can. Lena buried her face into the crook of Stef's neck. Stef kissed the top of the vice principal's head. "I love you," Stef whispered into Lena's ear.

"I love you too, baby." Lena said.

"Hey, if you guys are going to be mushy, your room is upstairs." Greyson said noticing the love fest on the couch.

"Greyson," Lena gently chastised.

"What? I've been looking forward to this game all week." He said. "And now, all I can hear on the couch is your love fest."

Lena got up from her lover's embrace and went over to lean over her son, "Be nice." She said taking the bowl away from him as she managed to sit behind him and hold him, knowing that mama cuddles will get him there. Stef stared at the mother-son pair with a soft smile on her face, hoping that one day she could have that with the boy.

**Flashback Ended.**

Eight year later, Stef did have that kind of connection with Greyson because he was cuddled in her arm with Lena cuddled into her other arm. Greyson was eating his burger when the two women were staring at him.

"Y'know staring at me isn't going to change anything." He said. "I'm not going to disappear either."

"Sorry," the couple mumbled in unison. "We're just glad you have an appetite again." Lena said.

"I'm sorry I scared you, Ma," Greyson said.

"It's okay," Lena said. "You're getting healthy now. You'll do go for the senator's weigh in tomorrow evening." She smiled and he rolled his eyes.

"She's going over the top," he mumbled.

"She cares about your well being," Stef said as he finished his burger and snuggled back into her embrace. Stef smiled, he really looked like a little kid curled into her. She made contact with Lena who had a small smile on her face.

"You seem to be very cuddly today," Lena commented.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since I've gotten any form of mama cuddles, since there's no way I'm getting a girlfriend any time soon." He chuckled when Lena came on the other side of him completing the mama sandwich cuddle. They sat in silence for a few minutes, "I was scared too." The couple pulled away and looked at him. "Stef, you were saying that my mom was so scared when she got that call from Jude. As it was happening, I was scared. I came face-to-face with the reality, that in the middle of a family fun center's parking lot, I was going to die. Or at least I thought I was. Before it all, I was a selfish man with a high paying job, a family that loved him, but I didn't take full advantage of that. I thought I was never going to see you guys again, tell you guys how much I love you. And how sorry for all those times I was an asshole." His voice was starting to break, Lena placed her hand on his thigh and rubbed small circles on it. "I was scared I'd never get to see Brandon become a world famous pianist. I was scared I'd never see the twins graduate from high school and go to college. I was scared I'd never get to say goodbye to Callie and Jude. I mean now, I would've been scared that I'd never get to see them go from two scared foster children to apart of the Foster family. I was scared." He wiped tears away from his eyes before saying, "Then I woke up in the hospital and I realized that life is too short to waste. I need you guys. Like more than before."

There wasn't a dry eye in the room, "We aren't going anywhere, baby boy." Lena said kissing his head.

"Yeah, sweet boy." Stef whispered. "We love you. So much." Stef was getting chocked up. They sat there in a relative silence until Lena had to go back to work. A lot was out on the table, a lot that they can work from. It was a start.

* * *

Later that night, Stef and Lena were in the kitchen. Greyson had just gone to bed because he was really tired and full from dinner. Callie came into the kitchen as the couple were talking about Greyson, but when Stef made eye contact, the teenager almost retreated.

"Hey Callie, what's up?" Stef said, Lena turned around to see the timid teenager in the doorway.

"I-I can come back." The teenager said.

"No, no, it's fine." Lena said. "C'mere." She gestured to the empty stool between her and Stef. When the teenager sat down, she was a little bit baffled. "What's going on?" Lena said trying to make eye contact.

"You two are always saying to the other kids, to come to you when there is a problem." She started. "That way, the crisis can be averted a little better. And, I decided to come to you with this before, I do something stupid."

Stef placed a soft hand on the teenager's back while Lena held her forearm, "What is it honey?" Lena asked.

"I'm happy for the first time in god knows when." She began. "But at the same time I feel like I'm going to let you down in some way and you're just going to one day wake up and realize that you don't want me anymore." The couple stared at her like deer caught in headlights. "It's a foster child mindset that we have to get rid of. I-I just want you to know that I maybe rough on the outside, but on the inside I'm this scared little girl who doesn't feel like she deserves to be loved."

"You're not disposable, Callie." Stef said. "You're not worthless. We wouldn't have made the decision to adopt you and Jude if we one day were going to wake up and not love you. Our love isn't conditional." Callie nodded.

"I want to lose this mindset, y'know? I want a family. I want someone else to take care of me. I'm really happy here. So is Jude. This is the best foster home we've ever been in."

"We love you, Callie." Lena said. "We aren't going to give up on you. We're family now. Your and Jude's adoption day is just legally stating what we already know." Callie nodded. "C'mere, we're going to show you what a mama sandwich is." She said as both her and Stef wrapped Callie up in the hugest hug she's gotten since her biological mother was alive.

"You're never going to let us down Callie," Stef said. "There are probably going to be times where you disappoint us, but you'll never let us down for long. We love you and if we have to spend the rest of your life showing you that we do, we will. You're an amazing kid." She said kissing the top of her head. The couple stayed like that for a few minutes before they pulled away. And as they watched Callie retreat from the room, they smiled. It maybe a long haul, but they were eventually going to show the girl that they loved her.

* * *

The next morning, after everyone had left the house and Greyson prepped the senator by phone for the interview, Lena had her son's head in her lap. He was half asleep as they watched CNN, but she was just so excited to have her baby boy back in his arms. They were about ready to watch Greyson's boss with an interview. He was like a limp noodle in her lap. He turned at one point to look his mother in the eyes.

"Yesss?" Lena asked looking down at her son.

"Thank you." He said groggily.

"What for, baby boy?" Lena asked running her fingers through his hair.

"For being one of the most selfless, loving, caring human beings ever." He said.

"You're welcome," she said smiling at him. "I love you. I know I haven't been the greatest at showing it to you. Stef told me about the conversation you guys had yesterday about Gretchen hurting us both." Greyson nodded. "I was so wrapped up in my own hurt, I didn't even think about how bad you were hurting. And then Stef came into the picture and I didn't take into consideration your adjustment when Brandon adjusted so well. You getting in trouble at school a lot makes sense now."

"I'm sorry." He said looking down in shame almost.

"No, no," she said bringing his chin up, "don't feel bad baby boy." She kissed his forehead.

"I meant what I said, I need you guys. I need my moms." He said. "Even though I'm 21 and am traveling the nation. I need you guys. I didn't just skype you guys because _you_ missed _me._ I skyped you guys because _I_ missed _you_."

"We aren't going anywhere, son." Lena said with a small smile, running her fingers through his hair. "We'll always be here for you." He nodded as he turned back to the television set to watch his boss' interview. Lena watched it with him, every so often looking down at her son who would be half asleep looking watching the interview. He'd be back at work tomorrow morning early, but in that moment in time, Lena saw her baby boy, not trying to take on the world, but trying to take on himself.

* * *

**End Of The Chapter:** A lot just went down. I like veering off cannon. haha.

Anyway, I start my last semester of college on Tuesday, so updates maybe slower from here on out because I like to take my time to give you guys good quality work. So, yeah...


	6. It's Where My Demons Hide

**Author's Note:** So I had this idea where the next seven chapters are going to be about how Stef and Lena show motherly love to each of their children followed by some AdamsFoster one-on-one time with the moms. These will come off like they are one shots, but really it's going to set up the rest of the story for all the characters. So consider them filler chapters for what's to come. Also, since this is an alternate universe, this shows the past for all eight of the characters.

The mama loving starts with Greyson.

* * *

**Chapter Five: It's Where My Demons Hide**

Greyson was sitting in between Stef and Lena in a waiting room in a family psychiatrist's office. After his confession a week prior, the three of them agreed to see someone about it. Lena wanted to build a better mother-son relationship with him and Stef wanted to build just a healthier relationship in general. Greyson was nervous, they could tell, hence why he was sitting in between them. So they can provided a little bit of comfort in case of a pre-appointment panic attack.

"Everything is going to be okay, baby boy." Lena said wrapping her arm around his board shoulders.

"Yeah," Stef encouraged. "How about after this we go to Reagan's Diner? Yeah?"

"That sounds like a great idea, babe." Lena said smiling. "What do you think, Grey?"

"Don't you have a family to feed?" He asked. Of course he wanted some one-on-one time with them afterwards, but he knows they have other responsibilities.

"Brandon is with Mike," Stef said.

"Callie is on a date with Wyatt," Lena continued.

"Jesus is at a volleyball tournament," Stef recalled.

"Mariana is with Lexi," Lena said.

"And Jude is at Connor's," Stef said.

"So, no baby boy, we're completely free," Lena said rubbing soothing circles on his back. "Unless, of course, you have to go back to the office."

Greyson adjusted his tie while sighing, "No, the senator is making me take the rest of the day off." He loosened his tie and retightened it multiple times.

"Relax," Lena cooed to the man. "Everything is going to be okay." She rubbed his back. "Just breathe."

"Everything is going to be alright, my sweet boy." Stef said grabbing his hand. "We love you, this is brave. You doing this. What's going on through your head?"

"I'm scared." He said. "I've never been this open and honest with people before. I just yeah. I don't know how to say it." He said hanging his head.

Lena kissed her son's temple, "We're not making you go through it alone baby boy." The vice principal said. "We're going to be here with you a 100% of the way." Greyson nodded. He settled into her embrace and gripped Stef's hand better. They stayed that way, the couple comforting Greyson and Greyson in a somewhat relaxed state until...

"Stef Foster and Lena and Greyson Adams?" They all looked in the direction of where Dr. Rebekah Williams, the best family psychiatrist in San Diego, was standing.

"You ready?" Lena whispered to Greyson.

The man took a deep breath, "Let's do this." The all simultaneously stood up and walked into the doctor's office, not sure what to expect, but ready with an open mind for anything.

* * *

"So," the doctor said, after pleasantries and everybody getting settled. "Lena, you said on the phone that your son was wanting to rebuild and rekindle a relationship with you and build one with your wife, but didn't know how?"

"Yes," Lena said, side-eyeing her son who looked like his was nervously shaking. "We had a death scare with him recently and it then in return brought up some things that were hidden under the surface."

"Like what, may I ask?" The doctor said taking note of something.

Lena and Greyson made eye contact and Lena nodded her head, almost in like permission for him to talk, he looked at the doctor and started talking, "When I was seven, this woman came into my mom's life. My mom fell in love and I'd like to think that I did too. Things got real serious, real fast. Towards the end of that relationship, I was even calling her mama."

When he stopped to take a deep breath, the doctor asked, "May I ask, what made you start calling her mama?"

The man looked down to the hands in his lap and took another deep breath and looked back up, "My mom was in the process of getting her PhD at the time and she took care of me like a mom."

The doctor wrote something down and said, "I see. Continue with your story please."

Greyson nodded, "Oh right, anyway, uhm, so one day when I was about eight, I was coming home from little league practice and instead of finding my mom and I guess mama in the kitchen making dinner, I saw my mom crying on the couch. And I uh asked where mama was and she said that they were taking a break. Which for an eight year old kid, I was pretty preceptive and put the pieces together that they broke up. Then my mom went into this, _'I'm fine, everything is fine'_ thing for awhile. She was dealing with her hurt and I was hiding mine." Greyson broke eye contact with the doctor for a second and when he looked back up he had tears in his eyes, "About six to eight months later, Stef came into the picture with Brandon."

"Who is Brandon?" The doctor asked Stef.

"My son from a previous marriage." Stef said placing her hand to rub soothing circles on Greyson's back.

"Gotcha, proceed." The doctor said to Greyson.

"Uh yeah," he said. "Um, so because I didn't want to get hurt again, I put these walls up at first." He started to get choked up.

The doctor handed him a box of tissues, "How about you find the words to say and I talk with your mom and Stef for a while, okay?" Greyson took the box and nodded, Stef was still rubbing his back. "So, we won't go too deep," she said. "How about we start with how you two met? I'm always a sap for a good love story," she joked, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Sure," Lena said. "While I was getting my PhD and still now, I work as a vice principal at Anchor Beach Community Charter School and when Brandon was five and in kindergarten, Stef met with me to learn more about the school and to enroll Brandon, etc."

Stef took a deep breath as she continued to rub soothing circles on Greyson's back, "I was still married to my ex husband at the time and was struggling with my sexuality anyway. And it took me awhile to come out, my ex husband and father thought it was some kind of midlife crisis phase."

"She met me outside of work one day and I told her that I couldn't be involved with a married woman; that people like her were just passing through and it's where I lived. I had to be practical; we both had a kid of our own to look out for. And then she charmed me with this poorly practiced speech," Lena said smiled.

"It was poorly practiced," Stef admitted.

"About how she told Mike, her ex husband, her dad, and most of her friends that she was gay." Lena looked over to the love of her life.

"About how I met a woman that I can't live without," Stef said making eye contact with Lena.

"And we both found where we belong," they said in unison.

"Aww," the doctor said, breaking them out of their love gaze. "So sweet."

"Yeah," Stef said. "It hasn't been an easy ride, but it's been worth it."

The doctor slightly cocked her head, "What does that mean?"

"We've had our fair share of challenges," Stef said, seeing Greyson clam up in the corner of her eye.

"Are you alright, Grey?" Lena said, noticing her son now slouching on the couch looking off into space. She placed her hand on his thigh.

"Oh uh yeah, sorry." He said, when in all actuality he wasn't alright.

"Oh my sweet boy," Stef said softly. "Who are you trying to fool?" She placed her hand on his cheek, softly caressing it.

"Okay," he said sitting up. "I'm not alright."

"What's going on up there in your head?" The doctor asked.

Greyson shot up and walked to the window, staring at downtown San Diego. Looking at everybody with their hustle and bustle on a Friday, early evening, he knew that he caused so much strife in his mom and stepmom's relationship in some aspects and he also knows in some her caused them to grow closer together.

**Flashback.**

Greyson had seen Stef mad before, but it normally wore off fairly quickly at the sight of Brandon or Jesus, or Mariana doing something cute because they never really made her that mad. They were 12 and 11 year old kids that the worst thing they did was get really mad and or frustrated and hit something. And Greyson wished he only had done that, but he didn't.

He got his girlfriend pregnant when they were both 16 years old.

Stef was pacing back and forth in the living room and Lena was sitting on the couch across from Greyson. She was far from happy as well, but Greyson knows that Lena will never show it to him. That she'll get it out in another way. He wasn't afraid of his mom; he was afraid of her partner. The cop with the gun, but then again, why did she care?

"How could you do this?" Stef said angrily. "How could you be so careless? So stupid?"

"So I'm stupid and careless now," Greyson said. "Good to know."

"Cut the sarcasm, Greyson." Stef said.

"Cut the pretending to care, Stef." Greyson retorted back.

"Greyson," Lena softly chastised, cutting in.

"What?" He snapped. Lena rose an eyebrow.

"Woah now," Stef said glaring at him. "Don't snap at her, this isn't her fault. It isn't mine either."

"Why do you even care?" Greyson said to Stef, "You're not even my mom." Silence filled the room and only part of Greyson regretted what he just said.

"Greyson Matthew," Lena said disappointedly. "Just go to your room." Greyson stood up and went through the kitchen into the basement where his room was and slammed the door in the process. That's all it took to get Stef to breakdown. Lena rushed to her love's side wrapping her in her arms, Stef has never let Lena see her like this, she is that tough cop, but she couldn't help it anymore. Stef buried her face in Lena's chest. "Shh, sh. I got you. I got you."

When the crying subsided, she said, "I always kind of knew he felt that way, I didn't want to know for sure or not." Lena sat them both down on the couch holding her love close. Stef just curled into a ball in the vice principal's lap.

Lena was running her fingers through Stef's soft hair, "You are his mother." She whispered.

Stef sighed, "Am I really though?" She asked. "He treats me like crap."

"I know he does and I will be talking to him about it. And you are. I love you." Lena said, leaning down to kiss her partner.

"I love you too," she said softly. "So much."

The two of them stayed like that for awhile just enjoying each other's presence, knowing that's what the both of them needed right in that moment. And then a month later, when they found out that Greyson's girlfriend had a miscarriage, Greyson still was haunted by the memory of one of the only things that he had said to Stef and his mom that month was that the blonde police officer was not his mom and he still recalls sneaking out of his room a few minutes later hearing the cop breakdown. Something that still to this day, he beats himself up over.

**Flashback Ended.**

Greyson felt a hand on his lower back, "Greyson, sweetheart," Lena said. "What's going through your head right now?" He made teary eye contact with his mom who ran her fingers through his hair. "Oh honey."

"Can I just take a moment and pull myself together?" He whispered. Lena knew her son, he doesn't like showing his softer, weaker side. She nodded and walked back over to the doctor and her wife, who was answering questions, as the doctor was getting to know the couple a little better. Lena knew her son would come over when he was ready. They were only about 15 minutes into an hour and a half appointment.

When Greyson did finally pull himself together, he walked back over and sat between his mom and stepmom, both of them very weary on approaching him in any aspect, he was in deep thought.

"Greyson," the doctor said pulling him out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?" He tensed and put his face in his hands and shook his head while curling up into a protective ball. "Can you come back to us and talk it out? It's not healthy to bottle things up inside."

Greyson relaxed into the sitting position, he looked up at the doctor, who now that he's staring directly into her eyes, looked really familiar. He shook it off and answered her question by looking at Stef, "I'm sorry."

Stef looked at him, she ran her hand through his mid-length, thick hair, as she said, "What for, sweet boy?"

Tears dwelled in his eyes as he said, "It's been haunting me for the last five years," he took a deep breath, Lena placed her hand on his thigh, "when we found out that Rachel was pregnant and when I said that you weren't my mom."

Stef's eyes widened, she had forgotten about that, she spent the rest of that night crying in her wife's arms, but she silently vowed to herself that she would forgive him and continue to love him like he was her own. "Baby," she said in the soft mother voice that she's never had the opportunity to use on him. He made eye contact with her, "It's really okay. I forgave you a long time ago."

The tears developed in his eyes even more, it was evident that Dr. Williams had stepped back and was now just playing referee with the trio. It was her approach to family therapy when she felt it was called for. Sometimes people don't need advice, they just need to talk it out; more times than not they knew how to fix it, they just need a little help and nudge. And that's how she felt towards the Adams Foster family. Greyson broke eye contact with Stef and made eye contact with his mom, "I'm sorry for having to make you peacekeeper all these years."

"Honey," Lena said running her hand through his hair.

Greyson then looked at the carpet in front of him, "I was just mad. Gretchen hurt me, probably not as much as she hurt you, Ma, but she still hurt me." He was sniffling now, "And then Stef came in with Brandon." He chocked up again. "And all of a sudden, I had to be a big brother, an example." Lena grabbed his hand and put circling with her thumb on the back of his hand. "And it just happened so fast. And I put these walls up and then it came off as I didn't support your relationship, when I was just protecting myself." The couple looked at each other with a knowing look. "I just want things to be better. I meant what I said last week, I need my _moms._"

Stef and Lena wrapped him up in a mama sandwich and kissed his temple, it was a start, but they were on their way to having a healthy relationship.

* * *

A couple mornings later, Greyson opened his passenger side door for his mom, for a breakfast date. After that first appointment with Dr. Williams, both Stef and Lena, decided that they needed time together with him and individual one-on-one time with him. Brandon was taking the other kids to school in Lena's car so that after their date he could drop his mom off at school before he headed to work.

Lena linked her arm with her son's as he shoved his hands in the front pockets of his dress pants. He opened the door to the small diner that his best friend, Sarah's stepdad owned.

As they sat in the booth, Greyson asked, "Are you sure Stef is okay getting the kids off to school on her own?" He said as the waitress sat down two cups of coffee for the pair.

Lena looked up from her menu and said, "Of course, she's the tough cop and I'm the loving, understanding mama." Greyson nodded understandingly. The settled into a relative silence before Lena asked, "How are you doing? You've been really quiet lately."

Greyson sighed and took a sip of his coffee, "I'm sorry." He said, not making eye contact with his mother.

Lena reached over and grabbed his face between her hands, "Hey, look at me," he made eye contact with his mother. "It's okay. Stef and I understand that you probably have a lot going through your head. Just talk to me, please." She caressed his cheeks with her thumbs.

He took a deep breath as she let go of his face and grabbed his hands, "I heard you say that Gretchen was coming into town." He said softly.

Lena took a sip of her coffee and nodded, "Yeah she's in town today, Stef and I are having dinner with her."

Greyson took a deep breath, "Would you mind if I tagged along?" Lena stared blankly at her son. "I need complete closure from all of this, so we can build a healthier relationship, so I don't have this overwhelming fear that Stef is going to leave you and I can let my walls down with her and be honest."

Lena looked at how sincere that was, she knew he needed closure with the woman who he called 'Mama' at one point in his life. She sighed, "I don't want to put a stop to all the progress we made though."

He looked at his mom straight in the eyes and said, "It won't, I promise. I just need closure with her. To be myself again."

Lena looked at him with a soft look, "Okay, I'll let her know. You'll be coming from work, yeah?" He nodded. "Okay, you're sure you're ready for this?"

He took a deep breath, "I just need to get closure. She wrecked me too, Ma." Lena tightened her grip on his hands. "I need to know why. I need to let go. And I can't do that without seeing her."

Lena nodded, "I get it baby boy. I love you."

His head fell before he picked it back up and said, "I love you too, Ma."

They sat and had breakfast in a casual conversation talking about Senator Taylor's campaign, Anchor Beach faculty stuff, and how the were to advance forward in this recovering a mother-son relationship.

As they were leaving, Lena asked, "So what is your plan to spend time with Stef?"

"Y'know how I'm a Dodgers fan and she's a Padres fan?" Lena nodded. It could get heated pretty quickly in the Adams Foster home when that game is on. "Well, with the Senator's help, I got us two home plate seat tickets for Sunday's game." He said backing out of his parking spot headed towards Anchor Beach.

Lena smiled, she knew that they bonded over sports and debating politics, it's just who they were, "Does she know?"

Greyson chuckled, "Yeah, Jesus is really jealous." Lena chuckled. "She's really excited though."

Lena chuckled and placed a motherly hand on her son's thigh, "I'm sure she is. Home plate seats? How'd the senator manage to score those?"

"Her brother's partner is an outfielder." He said somewhat focused on his driving.

"That's cool," Lena said, noticing how tense he was. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said. "The anxiety meds are putting me on edge."

"When's your check-in appointment?" She asked.

"Tomorrow at noon." He said pulling into the Anchor Beach parking lot.

Lena kissed her son's cheek, "Well, let me know if you need anything."

"You know, I will." He said smiling. "See you at lunch with Stef?"

Ever since he went back to work since the hospital visit, Stef and Lena join Greyson in his office for lunch. To make sure he is eating and to continue to rebuild and build a relationship of love and support.

"You know we wouldn't miss it," Lena said softly, unbuckling her seat belt grabbing her bag. "Stef is bringing lunch today, so I'll be there before her."

"Sounds good." He said watching his mom get out of the car. "Hey Mom?"

"Yeah babe?" She said, looking back.

"I love you." He said softly. Ever since his death scare and the therapy appointment, he's been honest about his feelings.

Lena smiled softly, "I love you too." She turned to walk away again and went into the front office to start her morning.

* * *

That night, Greyson nervously pulled up to the restaurant and handed his keys to the valet. When he walked in, the waiter took him to the table where his mom and Stef were already sitting and talking with Gretchen. He took a deep breath.

"Oh there he is," he heard Gretchen say. "My you've grown up." She said as Greyson sat down between Stef and Lena who were sitting across from each other.

"Yeah, that tends to happen." He said greeting his mother with a kiss to her cheek, side-hugging Stef, and then softly smiling at Gretchen while extending his hand to shake hers. Stef had to hold in a laugh because it was a silly gesture, especially since he used to call the woman mama.

"How've you been little man?" Gretchen asked and by the small cringe on his face, Stef could tell that it was the name she used to call him when he was eight. "Your mom tells me that you're working for Senator Taylor? Communications Director?"

"I've been good," he said with a forced smile. "And yeah, loving every moment of it. It's liberating."

"That's good," the woman said as Lena placed her hand on her son's knee. She knew how to comfort her baby boy.

"Long day?" Stef asked Greyson as she saw the tiredness in his eyes. He nodded.

"Can I get you your usual, Mr. Adams?" The waiter asked.

"Please." Greyson asked.

"Certainly." The waiter said walking away as the three women stared at him like he just grew three heads.

"What?" He asked feeling the tension at the table.

"Your usual?" Lena and Gretchen asked simultaneously.

"Mr. Adams?" Stef asked.

Greyson chuckled at Stef's comment, he knew she was going to ask the same question as his mom and Gretchen, but wanted to be different.

"Yeah Stef," he said playfully nudging her. "You didn't know? Mr. Adams is my real name." He joked as Stef chuckled. "And yeah, the senator and I have meetings with her colleagues here all the time."

The waiter came back with a glass of beer and Gretchen then stared at him, "How old are you now?" She asked.

"21, will be 22 next month." He said dryly.

"Has it been that long?" She asked.

"Yeah it has," Lena said with a small forced smile. "He graduated from high school and has his undergrad down. He'll have his master's degree in a couple of months. My baby boy is growing up." She reached her hand up to caress her son's face, he gently batted her hand out of his face.

"Almost done with your master's degree, what?" Gretchen said. "In what?"

"Political science." He said with a small smile.

"What did you get your undergrad degree in?" She asked.

"I double majored in political science and communications." He said. "I was originally Senator Taylor's communications intern and then a spot opened up for the communications director and I made an impression."

"Wow, our little man really has grown up," Gretchen said, making Greyson choke on the sip of beer that he had in his mouth. "Are you okay?"

Stef patted his back gently as he looked up at the woman, "I'm fine, I'm good."

Lena redirected the conversation, "Yeah, we're really proud of him." She said as the waiter came over to take their orders.

The conversation veered away from Greyson and onto Gretchen's life of traveling, stories about Lena and Gretchen's relationship, and when the meal came to an end, Greyson grabbed for the bill.

"Oh no, little man," Gretchen said. "Let me get that."

He shook his head, "Seriously, I just got paid with a traveling bonus." He said softly. "It's on me."

"Don't think about paying rent this month then," Stef said.

"Already made the transfer." Greyson said, pulling out his wallet.

"Wait, you pay rent?" Gretchen asked. "In your mother's house?"

"Teaches me to be responsible." Greyson said, placing his credit card in the bill holder gesturing for the waiter.

"Baby boy," Lena whispered. "You don't have to do this." She said, knowing he was doing this to impress Gretchen trying to show her that they were better off without her, better off with Stef. She placed her hand on his forearm, "You can get closure in other ways."

"Just let me do this," Greyson said, looking at his mom directly in the eyes and she could tell that the tears were there. "I got this, please. Just let me do this."

Lena nodded, "Okay," she reached to caress the back of his hand.

The waiter came to take the payment and Gretchen said, "I know I hurt both of you." Greyson and Lena looked over at her. "I know it had to of suck. Not only for you," she said to Lena. "But to you too," she said to Greyson. She continued looking at Greyson, "I know you probably have questions, anger, and resentment towards me. And part of the reason why I immediately said yes to your mom's question if you could tag along is because I'm ready to have at it."

The waiter came back with Greyson card and as he was finishing paying for the bill he said, "Well for starters, you can answer my question of why you left." The statement made Lena choke on her wine, forgetting that she forgot to tell her son why the woman left.

"You okay, love?" Stef asked to her wife.

Lena nodded as Gretchen asked, "You didn't tell him?"

Greyson's eyes shot from signing his name on the bill to his mother, "Tell me what? What happened?" He directed towards his mother.

"No," Lena said to Gretchen. "I didn't tell him, how are you supposed to tell an eight year old kid that his _mama_ wasn't ready to settle down and get married and then cheated on his mom with his mom's best friend?"

Greyson's eyes went wide and mouth dropped a little, "Is that true?" He asked his mom's ex-girlfriend.

Gretchen sighed, "Yeah, it is."

Greyson was squinting at the woman, "You promised me that you'd never hurt her. That you'd always take care of her. Protect her at all costs, even if you had to protect her from herself. You promised me." Lena and Stef's eyes widened a little as he continued, "I don't care about me anymore, but you promised me, you promised me that you wouldn't hurt her like every other person she dated did. You promised me that you'd be different. You remember that?"

Gretchen swallowed the lump in her throat, of course she remembered. It was the first night he called her mama, "Yes, of course I remember. I became mama after that night." She looked over to Stef and back to Greyson, "Is that why you don't call her mom in any form?"

Greyson's jaw tightened. "Yes," he breathed. He had never told Stef why he couldn't manage to call her mom, even though Stef had a feeling ever since Gretchen was brought up that she knew why. He didn't want to get hurt again. She placed her hand on his bouncing knee under the table. "I won't lie, you didn't just hurt her," he said gesturing to Lena who had her hand on his forearm, "You hurt me too. For the longest time, I thought it was my fault. And now, I know the real reason why. And not to sound like a whiny little kid, but you broke a promise, one that I expected you to keep. I asked to come because I wanted to start finding closure. We've got a hell of a person in our lives now, replacing you." He said, grabbing Stef's hand that was on his knee. "I may never call her mom or mama. But I do know this, she's been a hell of a mom for the last decade. More so than you ever were in eighteen months."

The table was silent, Greyson's jaw was still tightened, but he said what he needed to say. It was off of his chest now.

* * *

A couple of days later, Greyson was sitting in Petco Park with Stef. It was the middle of the fourth inning when a conversation struck up between the two.

"I can't believe I'm in public with you wearing a Dodgers jersey," Stef said. "How are you a Dodger fan when you were born and said in San Diego?"

"Pops and Grams took me to my first game when I was six." He shrugged taking a sip of the beer that he was drinking. "It was a Dodger-Giants game. The Dodgers won. It's won of the only good memory I have with them."

"I don't see your and your mom's problem with them, they're nothing, but lovely to me and the kids." She said taking a sip of the beer she was drinking. She was driving, one beer couldn't hurt her.

"You aren't their daughter, who was confused about her sexuality, that got knocked up on a one night stand with a man and their grandchild who was born from that." He said as the Dodger's outfielder hit a home run out of the park causing him and three other players to come into home plate.

"Have you talked your father since he's come into your office?" Stef asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I haven't brought him up because my mom is sensitive about it, or she seemed to be."

"She just feels like she's going to be replaced," Stef said placing her hand on her stepson's bouncing knee.

"That'd never happen." Greyson said, hesitantly placing his head on her shoulder. Surprised by this action, Stef placed her head on his head. "She didn't give up on me like she could have. She's always been there even when it felt like she wasn't. I wouldn't ever want to replace her, y'know?"

"I do," Stef said, enjoying the softer side of her stepson. He was more relaxed. "Maybe you could show her, y'know? Like go out of your way when you spend time with her to show her how much you love her."

"Yeah, definitely." He said. "Thanks Stef."

"You bet." He sat up. "Hey, question?"

"What's up?" He asked.

"Is being legally married a big deal to your mom?" She asked.

"Yeah, kind of." He said. "She respects your thought of marriage being a state of mind, not a matter of state though. Why?"

"I think after this whole thing with Gretchen that I want to give that to her, y'know, legally binding what we already know?"

"Kind of like Callie and Jude." He stated.

"Yeah, just like that." She said smiling at him. "So do I have your blessing and permission?" She asked.

"Y'know you don't need it Stef," he said softly.

"I know, but I want it." She said placing her hand on his bouncing knee again.

"Then you have it." He said with a small smile.

"Thank you," she said kissing his cheek. He nodded. "I love you, y'know that?" Greyson smiled and nodded.

"I do," he said. "I love you too, Stef." He said wrapping his arm around the blonde.

And that's how they stayed for the rest of the game, a real mother-son moment in the midst of their rivalry.

* * *

**End Of The Chapter: **So I apologize for the wait on this chapter. Last semester of undergrad is kicking my ass. I'm not too sure about this chapter. And I have planned for Stef to ask the rest of the children for their permission and blessing too. Totally not cannon, but yeah.

Next up for some mama loving is... Callie!


End file.
